Publicat pe 29/04/2022

Bucharest, April 29th, 2022: The Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIR) noted with surprise the position of the Council of Foreign Investors (FIC) regarding the new draft amendment to the Romanian Chambers of Commerce law, especially in relation to the fact that this organization includes representatives of European countries where similar regulations have existed for a very long time.

The draft law proposed by the CCIR refers to established models in countries such as Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, etc., where the relationship between the Chamber of Commerce and the entrepreneur is regulated in the form of compulsory affiliation or mandatory contributions.

CCIR and the Romanian Chambers of Commerce were not established on their own basis based on O.G. no. 26/2000 of associations and foundations, on the contrary, the special law of the Romanian chambers of commerce, according to which they operate, establishes by the will of the legislator (the State that created them), the fact that the affiliation of companies to them is voluntary.

In Europe, a model similar to the Catalogue of Companies has been successfully implemented in Hungary, where all companies registered in the Trade Register have the legal obligation to register in the Chamber Register, administered by the Hungarian Chambers of Commerce, companies must pay an annual contribution, in exchange for the services provided. CCIR have been talking for a long time about the certificate of competence of company directors as necessary, even those who challenge it today, publicly plagiarizing its name in the need for an SME driving license.

In the region, the CCIR is a member of the Association of Balkan Chambers of Commerce (ABC), at European level it is a member of the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Eurochambres), and worldwide, of the World Federation of Chambers of Commerce (WCF) and of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). To underestimate the role, importance and attributions of the National Chamber of Romania, at least from our (re) knowledge, we consider as something to be expected from the associative forms organized ad-hoc by the will of the associates or founders and contesting the bill.

From the FIC, however, we expect more, given the membership of their members and the background of the investors they represent, from countries with recognized, developed, modern and viable chamber systems that work with their States in the general economic interest. We invite the FIC to inform the public, civil society, associations, and the business environment in general in Romania, about how the chambers of commerce are organized in the countries where their members come from. And if, by provisions like those of the project in Romania, in the reference states the mandatory contributions affect the market economy.