1. Law No. 361/2022, which implemented the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1937 into national legislation

In 2019, Directive (EU) 2019/1937 instituted protection for individuals reporting breaches of European law, and was later transposed into national legislation, creating an obligation for some companies to have internal channels through which employees, and not only them, can report breaches of EU law without suffering negative consequences from the company for these reasons.

From July 3, 2024, the rule required by the European Parliament and Council through Art. 6 of EU Directive 2019/904 on reducing the environmental impact of certain plastic products, according to which single-use plastic products whose caps and closures are made of plastic can only be placed on the market if the caps and closures remain attached to the containers during the intended use phase of the products, comes into force. The provision was transposed into national law by Ordinance No 6/2021 on the reduction of the environmental impact of certain plastic products.

On 18.06.2024, the Chamber of Deputies adopted the Draft Law on the Use and Provision of Trust Services, already adopted in October 2023 in the Senate (the Draft Law). The Draft law was sent to the Romanian President for promulgation. On June 27.  The Draft Law it establishes the necessary measures to implement Directive (EU) No 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market.

On 5 March 2024, Law 28/2024 amending and supplementing some normative acts in the foreigners' sector was published in the Official Gazette. In the following, we will review the most important new changes introduced by the legislative texts concerned, which mainly refer to the status adjustment of highly qualified workers and the EU Blue Card.

While companies in Romania are already used with financial reporting, new obligations are to be imposed upon them as the ESG requirements at EU level will gradually start to apply in the Member States. A sustainability report that outlines the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) effects of their operations shall have to be  issued by a large number of companies in the future.