President Nicușor Dan has sent back to Parliament for re-examination a law allowing financial incentives for individual fossil-fuel boilers in certain buildings connected to district heating, Replica Online reports. He warns the rules may clash with Romania’s EU obligations, risk new infringement procedures and have long-term environmental effects.

The law approves Government Ordinance No. 16/2025, transposing an EU buildings energy-performance directive. It was sent for promulgation on 9 April 2026; on 27 April the president challenged it at the Constitutional Court. The Court rejected the objection in Decision No. 837/2026, published on 23 October. In the re-examination request, Dan says he is not reopening the Court’s ruling but asking Parliament to revisit the policy choice and EU compatibility.

A key point is a Chamber of Deputies exception: incentives for fossil boilers in buildings tied to thermal points serving fewer than 50 end users, for up to two years. The president notes the directive bans such incentives for stand-alone fossil boilers from 1 January 2025, with limited exceptions (investments selected before 2025 and funded via certain EU instruments). Cutting costs at underused thermal points, the committees’ rationale, is not — in his reading — a recognised exception.

Dan cites two European Commission infringements on Directive (EU) 2024/1275: INFR(2025)0168 (opened 26 March 2025, closed 1 October 2026) and INFR(2026)0490 (opened 14 July 2026, non-transposition). An unauthorised derogation could be treated as incorrect transposition.

He also warns a two-year incentive window does not limit how long installed equipment runs, potentially locking in fossil use and delaying lower-emission options. He asks Parliament to steer public support toward EU-compatible alternatives.

Image: Nicușor Dan (Wikimedia Commons).

Sources consulted: President Nicușor Dan sends gas boiler law back to Parliament - Replica Online.