The European Commission did not accept the proposal to exempt Romania from the CO2 tax on electricity supplied to Moldova. The information was confirmed at a press conference by the Romanian Minister of Energy Sebastian Burduja. However, Moldova will receive direct European assistance, the official said.
"I discussed with the European Commissioner for the Environment, of the Directorate-General for Climate Action. He is not in favor of this solution. It was also requested by Poland, and the argument, which is difficult for me to refute, is that this creates a precedent at European level, when circumstances can be invoked to derogate from the payment of these certificates," said the Romanian official.
According to Sebastian Burduja, alternative solutions are being looked for to support the Republic of Moldova.
"I understood from the Moldovan Prime Minister Recean and from my colleagues from the Permanent Representative Office of Romania in Brussels, and from what the Commissioners for Energy and Environment told me, that there is the possibility of offering support to the Republic of Moldova, direct financial support from the Directorate-General for Energy, possibly from other international actors. You also saw the position of the northern European states, which are willing to help," noted the official.
Romania and the Republic of Moldova asked the European Commission for a temporary exemption from the purchase of CO2 certificates for the electricity exported by Romania to the Republic of Moldova.
"The problem is the price as, when you have production based on gas and even more so on coal, the price is much higher because of the CO2 certificates," said the Romanian minister at the time.
