COVID-19 Legal Timeline

Purpose: Establishment of zonal quarantine for Seleus and Moroda villages from Seleus commune, Gurahonț și Bonțești villages from Gurahont commune, Arad county; Bailesti commune, Darmanesti commune, Arges county

Purpose: Establishment of support measures for employees and employers in the context of the epidemiological situation caused by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

Main measures:

• Employees of employers whose activity has been suspended as a result of the epidemiological investigation conducted by the county public health directorates benefit from the indemnity provided in art. XI of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 30/2020;
• The indemnity provided shall be calculated for the number of days in which the activity was suspended and shall apply for the entire period in which the activity is suspended, but not later than December 31, 2020.

Purpose: Approval of the Support Program for Small and Medium Enterprises “SME LEASING OF EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS”.

Main measures:

• The maximum duration of the leasing period is 72 months, with the possibility of granting grace periods lasting between 3 and 12 months and the period and the manner of repayment of the financing shall be determined by the financier, in accordance with its internal rules;
• The advance paid by the user is 0%, and, depending on his request, can reach up to a maximum of 20% of the purchase value of the financed good, excluding VAT;
• The residual value is between 1% and maximum 20% of the acquisition value of the goods financed exclusively by VAT and may be paid at the end of the leasing period or may be included in installments, during the performance of the contract.

Purpose: Establishment of the zonal quarantine in Cartojani locality, Roata de Jos commune, Giurgiu county

Purpose: Measures to prevent and limit SARS-CoV-2 diseases

Main measures:

• criteria for which zonal quarantine is recommended (trend and rate of infection, percentage of aged population, sanitary personnel);
• procedure for the isolation of persons
  • 48 hour isolation for people suspected of infection for clinical, paraclinical examinations and biological evaluations, until the test results are received, in the health units designated by the Ministry of Health or at home or at a declared location;
  • after the 48 hours the doctor will recommend the prolongation or suspension of the isolation measure.

Purpose: Extension of the state of alert by 30 days starting with 17 July 2020.

Main measures:

1. To increase responsiveness

• operational coordination of public ambulance services, voluntary emergency services and local police;

2. To ensure the resilience of communities

• the obligation to wear masks in all public indoor spaces, commercial spaces, at the workplace and in public means of transport is maintained,

3. To reduce the impact of the type of risk:

• prolongation of prohibition of organizing and holding meetings, and other types of gatherings in open spaces, as well as gatherings of a cultural, scientific, artistic, sporting or entertainment nature,
• prolongation of suspension of the consumption of food and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in common dining areas of restaurants, hotels, motels, boarding houses, cafes, or other public places;
• suspension of flights performed by aviation economic operators to countries not subject to the quarantine / isolation exception established by the National Institute of Public Health and approved by the National Committee for Emergency Situations and from these countries to Romania for all airports in Romania.

Main measures:

• The trial activity is suspended during the state of emergency or state of siege;
• During the state of emergency or state of siege, the judicial activity may continue only in exceptional situations, of special urgency, duly justified, regarding the protection of family relations and the measures ordered by decree issued by the President of Romania regarding establishing the state of emergency;
• The cases that will be judged for each category of courts will be established, exhaustively, only by the Superior Council of Magistracy, after consulting the management colleges of the courts of appeal, for the courts of appeal, courts and judges, respectively of the College. of the High Court of Cassation and Justice;
• During the state of siege or the state of emergency, in cases in which the measure of pre-trial detention has been ordered or in cases in which the parties execute the sentence of deprivation of liberty, the court hearings shall take place by videoconference;
• During the state of siege or the state of emergency, the limitation period, the procedural period and the limitation period shall not begin to run and, if they have begun to run, shall be suspended.

Purpose: Approval of the GEO no. 90/2020 for the amendment of the GO no. 6/2019 on the establishment of fiscal facilities, as well as for the amendment of other normative acts.

Purpose: Measures to prevent the spread of infection with the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus to be implemented by those who organize training, education, training and workshops for adults, including those organized for the implementation of projects funded by European funds, such as and some specific activities organized by the institutions with responsibilities in the field of national defense, public order and security and those in the field of diplomacy.

Main measures:

• on-line training, social distancing for indoor educational activities with a maximum of 20 people, epidemiological triage.

Purpose: Amendment of annexes no. 1 and 3 to the Government Decision no. 476/2020 on the extension of the alert status on the territory of Romania and the measures applied during it to prevent and combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Main measures:

• Allowing the organization of training courses and workshops for adults, including those organized for the implementation of projects funded by European funds, with the participation of up to 20 people and in compliance with the rules of physical distance established by order of the Minister of Health;
• Allowing the organization and development by institutions with responsibilities in the field of national defense, public order and safety, in the open air, of specific activities, with the participation of up to 200 people and under the supervision of an epidemiologist.

Purpose: Measures for the implementation of projects financed from European funds in order to avoid the risk of disengagement for the programming period 2014-2020 for public infrastructure investments.

Purpose: Establishing measures to prevent contamination with the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and to ensure safe health activities in the field of culture.

Purpose: Approving GEO 43/2020 for the support measures reimbursed from EU funds.

Purpose: Approving the regulations on the establishment of specific measures to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus for activities in commercial centers where several economic operators operate.

Main measures:

1. Universally valid precautions and individual liability

• wearing a mask is mandatory;
• establishing isolation at home for employees that show suggestive symptoms (such as coughing, sneezing, fever) or if they encounter a confirmed case of infection with SARS-CoV-2;
• recommending clients that show obvious symptoms to avoid coming to the shopping center;
• frequent hand hygiene, and avoid touching the face with unhygienic hands.

2. Specific measures for the resumption of activity (g. in mall-type commercial spaces):

• installation of information panels on hygiene rules and physical distancing;
• an observational triage carried out at the entrance to the shopping centers, access not allowed to people with symptoms of respiratory infection (g. temperature exceeding 37,3 °C, coughing, sneezing);
• placement of indicative markings in elevators, escalators, and traffic areas to maintain a physical distance of at least 2m and avoid long stays in groups of more than 6 people.

Purpose: Amending the measures imposed by GD no. 394/2020.

Main amendments:

• Prohibition of outdoor recreational and sporting activities, except for those involving no more than 6 people who do not live together (e.g. cycling, hiking, running);
• Prohibition of participation in private events organized indoors, except for those that take place with the participation of a maximum of 20 people in compliance with the rules of social distance;
• Allowing the retailing of products and services in shopping centers where several economic operators operate. The prohibition persists for restaurants, coffee shops or other public places.

Purpose: Completing the Methodology for applying the provisions of art. 8 of GEO 43/2020 for the approval of support measures reimbursed from EU funds.

Purpose: General framework for approving financing from the EU funds of the national programs (integration of certain categories on the labor market, supporting entrepreneurship or digitalization of the activities).

Purpose: Amending the Methodological Norms for the application of the GEO no. 110/2017 on the Support for SME – SME INVEST Romania.

Purpose: Specific measures to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus for tourist beach operation activities.

Purpose: Preventing contamination with the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

Purpose: Amendment of the GO no. 6/2019 on the establishment of fiscal facilities.

Main measures:

• Extension of the due date of tax obligations that can be restructured;
• Inclusion in the category of outstanding tax obligations as of 31 March 2020 of those established by the competent tax authority by decision after 1 April 2020;
• Extension of the deadline for submitting the notification on the intention to restructure budgetary obligations and of the deadline for submitting the restructuring application;
• Payment relaxation measures for debtors wishing to partially cancel their main tax obligations.

Purpose: Modification of GD no. 394/2020 regarding the declaring of the state of alert.

Main measures:

• Suspension lift for the: (i) sports competitions organized outdoors or in indoor or outdoor pools; (ii) organization of drive-in shows only if the occupants of a vehicle are members of the same family; (iii) organization of outdoor performance of shows, concerts, public and private festivals or other cultural events (allowed only with the participation of at most 500 spectators with seats on the seats, at a distance of at least 2 meters from each other, as well as wearing a protective mask);
• Consumption of food and beverages are permitted in specially designed outdoor spaces, ensuring a minimum distance of 2 m between tables and the participation of a maximum of 4 people at a table.

Purpose: Approval of the Norms for the establishment of specific measures to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus during the state of alert in public catering establishments.

Main measures:

• Hygienic-sanitary requirements in the production, processing, storage, transport, and disposal of food regarding packaging, containers, utensils and machinery;
• Obligation to review the functional production and delivery circuits;
• Ensuring physical distance between employees and alternative measures to protect workers.

Purpose: Modification of the GEO no. 195/2002 on traffic on public roads.

Purpose: Establishment of measures for hiring staff without public examination, under the conditions of art. 27 para. (1) of Law No. 55/2020.

Purpose: Modification of acts regulating the field of health regarding the accreditation of health units and the quality of services.

Purpose: Modification of Order No. 828/2020 regarding the measures for organizing and carrying out the activity at the level of dental offices, during the state of alert.

Purpose: Establishing the obligation to wear a protective mask, epidemiological triage and mandatory hand disinfection to prevent contamination with SARS-CoV-2 virus during the state of alert.

Purpose: Granting of protective masks for disadvantaged families and persons.

Purpose: Amending certain quarantine and self-isolation provisions.

Purpose: Regulating the conditions necessary in order to resume sports training in camps as well as in the case of individual outdoor sports.

Purpose: Establishment of measures in educational units/institutions and all structures under the subordination or coordination of the Ministry of Education.

Purpose: The approval of GEO No. 41/2020 regarding the granting of free workdays for parents in case of the temporary closure of educational unit.

Purpose: The approval of GEO No. 30/2020 regarding measures in the social protection field.

Purpose: Measures to prevent contamination with the new SARS CoV-2 coronavirus and to ensure safe economic activities during the state of alert period.

Main measures:

• Approval of recommendations: (i) for the organization and development of personal care activities in the specially designated spaces; (ii) regarding the activity in the offices with common spaces in open system (open space); (iii) regarding the operation of the tourist reception structures with accommodation functions.

Purpose: Measures to prevent contamination with the new SARS-CoV-2 virus and to ensure safe activities in the field of transport during the state of alert.

Main measures:

1. Obligations for employers:

• To retrain employees in health safety and security in the workplace;
• To revise the prevention and protection plan and their own instructions for safety and health at work and to identify the risks specific to the conditions of epidemiological contamination and to update the risk assessment document to the new conditions for carrying out the activity;
• To inform the employees;
• To provide protective equipment such as masks, gloves, disinfectants and to adapt the workplace such as to assure all means of infection prevention (limitation of interaction between employees, increased space between individual offices, limitation of access to common spaces, disinfection, individualization of work schedules, epidemiologic triage of employees, protection equipment, movement corridors).

2. Obligations for employees:

• To notify the employer if he/she shows symptoms of infection;
• To accept the verification of the body temperature and to wear the protective equipment;
• To comply with all the instructions provided in the prevention and protection plan and other safety plans and instructions provided by the employer.

Purpose: Measures to prevent contamination and to ensure the activity in places of worship.

Purpose: Measures to ensure adequate protection against the SARS-CoV-2, as well as provisions to change and improve the emergency situation management.

Main measures

1. Civil protection and emergency situation management:

• New definition of the state of alert as the response to an emergency situation of a particular magnitude and intensity, determined by one or more types of risk (g. force majeure caused by fire, earthquakes, mass illness), consisting of a set of temporary measures, proportional to the level of severity manifested or predicted and necessary for prevention and removal of imminent threats to life, human health, the environment, important material and cultural values ​​or property.
• The state of alert can be declared through Government Decision subjected to the approval of the Parliament when it is instituted on more than half of the territorial administrative units of the country;
• The state of alert can be instituted for 30 days with the possibility of extension;
• Definition of measures that can be taken during the state of alert to:
  • increase the response capacity (acquisition of goods, redistribution of resources, coordination);
  • ensure the resilience of communities (temporary evacuation, aids, measures to protect life and to limit the risk);
  • reduce the impact of the type of risk (restriction or prohibition of meetings, of the movement of persons, limitation, or suspension of the activity of economic operators, temporary closure of state border).

• Measures can be taken for the suspension of the activity of restaurants, hotels and commercial centers;
• Possibility to institute the obligation to wear protection masks.

2. Labour:

• Prohibition of the declaration, initiation, or development of collective labour disputes in essential sectors (energy, telecommunications);
• Provisions for the assurance of continuation of work in the public sector;
• Prolongation of the validity of labour contracts;
• Possibility of employers with more than 50 employees to establish individualized work programs, without the employee’s consent, so as to ensure the existence of an interval between employees beginning and end of the work schedule;
• Possibility of employers to decide, with the consent of the employee, carrying out of the activity in telework or work from home regime, change of job or duties;
• Possibility of public institutions involved in combating the COVID-19 to order secondment with the prior consent of the employee and the seconding employer.

3. Measures in the fields of:

• education and research (g. the teaching activities that require physical presence in educational units may be suspended),
• insolvency (g. the insolvent debtor’s obligation to submit a request to the court to be subject to the provisions of the Insolvency Law is not applicable during the state of alert),
• transportation (g. in the field of air transport measures may be imposed, such as: hygiene and disinfection of common areas, equipment, means of transport and aircraft, procedures and protocols inside airports and certain rules of conduct);

4. Institution of contravention fines for the breach of certain obligations, ranging from RON 500 to RON 15,000.

Purpose: Amending certain self-isolation and quarantine procedures.

Purpose: Starting with 15 May 2020, extension of some terms, amendment of the Fiscal Code, of the National Education Law, as well as other normative acts.

Main measures:

• Extension of social protection measures, such as the technical unemployment aid;
• Measures in the fiscal-budgetary field, such as the exemption from the payment of the added value tax;
• Extension of the deadline for the obtaining of emergency certificates until 15 June 2020;
• Measures regarding the activity of the National Office of the Trade Register, (6 months as of the date of termination of the state of emergency):
  • the activity of the trade registry is carried out mainly by electronic means/by correspondence;
  • the affidavits that are annexed to the registration application / other applications may have the form of a private deed or electronic form and may be submitted with the trade registry, without any other formality, by electronic means, with the electronic signature attached or by mail and courier.
  • the signature specimen is submitted with the trade registry either legalized by the notary public, certified by a lawyer or in the form of a private deed or can be given at the trade registry

Purpose: Modification of certain normative acts (eg GEO no. 21/2004) on emergency management and civil protection.

Main measures:

• Modification of the structure of the National Emergency Committee;
• The state of alert is declared by the National Emergency Committee, with the prime-minister’s approval, for a maximum period of 30 days, which may be extended.

Purpose: Modification of provisions regarding the form of certain documents necessary for obtaining the emergency certificate.

Purpose: Modification of procedure regarding the sale of gasoline and diesel during the emergency.

Purpose: Provisions for the filing and online applications for reception of works and/or registration in the land book made by interested parties.

Purpose: Modification of GEO no. 43/2020 for the approval of support measures reimbursed from EU funds.

Purpose: Approval of operating conditions for dental offices during the state of emergency caused by the COVID-19 epidemic.

Main measures:

• Remote clinical triage of patients, as a measure of prevention, is necessary;
• Patient scheduling recommendations according to age, urgency of intervention, possibility of infection with Covid-19;
• Infection prevention measures such as aerosol exposure limitation, wearing of protection equipment, frequent sanitization of equipment and hands.

Purpose: Details about public information campaigns in the context of the epidemiological situation caused by the spread of COVID-19.

Purpose: Temporary suspension of the distribution outside the Romanian territory of biocidal products.

Purpose: Approval of the model of the declaration necessary for granting days off to parents for the supervision of children, in case of temporary closure of schools

Purpose: Extension of certain deadlines of the de minimis aid scheme within the Start-up Nation Program.

Main measures:

• Further suspension of flights,
• Partial relaxation of movement restrictions for elderly people over 65 years.

Purpose: Social protection measures regarding death benefits, survivorship pensions, invalidity pensions during the emergency situation.

Purpose: Extension of the mandates of the Regulatory Committee of ANRE.

Purpose: Approval of the criteria for establishing the beneficiaries of economic measures instituted in GEO 29/2020 regarding the deferral of payment for utility services for national sports federations and clubs.

Purpose: Measures regarding the beneficiaries of EU funds in the context of the spread of COVID-19

Main Measures:

• Increased flexibility of procedural deadlines for the preparation of pre-financing documents/payment requests/reimbursement requests,
• Possibility to amend contracts in order to reduce the minimum value of interim payment certificates,
• Possibility to introduce a contractual clause for the advance payment of equipment and/or materials.

Main measures:

• further suspension of flights;
• the export for certain agri-food products (e.g. wheat, oat, rice) no longer banned/suspended;
• additional safety measures for the agri-food markets.

Purpose: Approval of the Norms for applying the provisions of EO 49 regarding the issuance of medical leave certificates for employees with COVID-19 self-isolation or quarantine obligations.

Purpose: Economic and fiscal budgetary measures to mitigate the negative impact on economy.

Main measures: Submission deadline for financial statements postponed to 31July 2020;

Purpose: Template of the guarantee agreement, provided in art. 5 para. (2) of the GEO no. 37.