Renewable Energy in Romania: the Pitfall of Policy Implementation
Elena Simona Davidescu, ESSCA Angers
Renewable energy has recently become one of the most attractive investment opportunities in Romania, prompted by support schemes. However, this increased interest has not been matched by policy, insofar as the Law 220 regulating investment in renewable energy adopted in 2008 has not been implemented until 2011, when the legislation was amended through an emergency decree. This paper looks at the decision-making process at the national level after the EU accession, in order to reveal the context leading to non-implementation and the impact of the European Commission on future policy developments and policy revision. The paper argues that Romanian domestic decision-making still faces difficulties adapting to EU requirements and learning from past policy failure, resulting in frequent policy revisions and significant delays in implementation.