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Due to the fact that the Romanian citizens did not comply with the recommendations imposed though the Military Ordinance no. 2/2020, the Ministry of the Interior issued another ordinance with effect from 25.03.2020, 12 a.m. and turned all the previous recommendations into prohibitions.

At the same time, the new ordinance prohibits people to participate in team sports activities and provides the possibility to leave the home / place where they live for reasons such as: traveling for blood donation, to the blood transfusion centers; traveling for humanitarian or voluntary purposes, agricultural activities (including the trade of goods).

In addition to this, the ordinance stipulates that every document that will expire during the state of emergency, issued by the public authorities, can be changed within 90 days from the end of the state of emergency. The ordinance provides also that the sale of the electronic and household appliances will not be suspended (the products will be delivered directly to the buyer) and neither the selling of the medical optics services.

The people who have reached the age of 65 will have the possibility to go outside the house/place where they live between 11:00-13:00 p.m. in case:

displacement in order to provide goods that cover the basic needs of the persons and the pets(s);
displacement in order to obtain medical assistance that cannot be delayed nor carried out remotely;
displacement for justified reasons, such as caring/accompanying the child, assisting elderly, sick or disabled persons or death of a family member;
short trips, near the house, related to the individual physical activity of the people and the needs of the pets/pets;
displacement for professional interest or for agricultural activities.

The prohibition to participate in team sports activities is also applicable to the people who have reached the age of 65.

The reason of the displacement can be verified with the service card, together with a certificate from the employer (in case the people go to work / the places where they carry out their activity) or a declaration on their own responsibility, in the other cases.

The certificate provided by the employer or the declaration on their own responsibility can also be shown using the phone / tablet / other electronic device that allows to view it entirely.

The people who do not live at the same address provided in the identification card will declare, on their own responsibility, that they live somewhere else.

The standardized form of the declaration can be reached on the Romanian Government`s website:

Actualizarea modelului declarației pe proprie răspundere

The measure of isolation at home / quarantine was also established for all persons entering Romania.

At the same time, there were suspended all flights to France and Germany and from France and Germany to Romania, for all airports, for a period of 14 days. Taking into consideration the situation created by the contamination with COVID-19 virus, several airline operators have suspended already all domestic / international flights for a certain period.

The maritime transports were also affected. Thus, all ships arriving from the red and yellow risk areas:

will not be able to have access to the Romanian seaports if the crew does not have the protective equipment established by the Public Health Department of Constanta or they have not performed the 14-days quarantine period since the last port of call located in an red / yellow risk area;
will have access to the Sulina port (vessels coming from the Black Sea) or Danube port, nautical mile 44 (vessels coming from Bastroe channel).

After the state of emergency was established in Romania for a period of 30 days as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, in each field there were taken special measures in order to prevent the contamination.

It is important to mention that each court did not suspend entirely its activity. Therefore, as you will see in the following, the relationship with the court can be held through electronic means. Basically, in almost all of the regions of the country, each concerned party can have access to the electronic case file, and can send/receive documents to/from the court via e-mail or fax. In addition to this, the public schedule for the administrative issues can be held only by phone or via e-mail or fax.

It is also important to know that even though some of the courts suspended their hearings they are still working and drafting the text of the delivered decisions. Therefore, it is quite possible that in the next period the parties will receive the motivations of each decision.

Relevant provisions:

The Presidential Decree no. 195/16.03.2020 regarding the state of emergency established in Romania;
The Decision no. 257/17.03.2020 of the Superior Council of Magistracy;
The Decision no. 53/18.03.2020 of the Bucharest Court of Appeal and Decision no. 4/18.04.2020 of the Constanta Court of Appeal.

According to the special regulations mentioned above, in the justice area there were taken the following measures:

any statute of limitation and deterioration period will not run, and, if they have started to run, they are suspended pursuant to the presidential decree;
during the state of emergency, only the urgent files will continue to be judged; taking into account the circumstances, the judges can set short hearings, including from one day to another or even on the same day;

The following trials are considered urgent to be judged:

civil, commercial and insolvency matters: temporary injunctions; temporary suspension of the enforcement procedure; jurisdiction conflicts in matters of protection order; execution of public procurement contracts concerning the medical products and services; temporary suspension of the enforcement procedure until the syndic decides to approve/reject the insolvency request; involuntary hospitalization; approvals / non-approvals of the enforcement procedures based on temporary injunctions or other enforceable titles which concern the minors;
labor and social insurance matters: temporary injunctions; temporary suspension of the enforcement procedure; issues regarding the ending of strike;
administrative and fiscal matters: temporary injunctions; detention issues; declaring the undesirable people; temporary suspension of the first court decisions; issues that are examined in closed session without summoning the parties and are related to the cases mentioned above, including the procedural incidences; challenges submitted against the administrative acts issued on the basis of presidential decree;
criminal matters: issues decided by the judges of rights and freedoms; issues in front of the preliminary chamber judge/court, as – challenges regarding the protective measures, preventive measures, temporary medical safety measures, protection of the victims and witnesses, crimes against the national security and terrorism in case of preventive measures, international judicial cooperation in criminal matters which involve the preventive measures, penalty interruption / delay, delay cancellation / interruption; challenges concerning the conditional release and the release of the minors from the educational or detention center; issues solved by the judge that is supervising the deprivation of liberty.

It is important to mention that other courts, like Constanta Court of Appel, established more issues that can be considered urgent to be judged, as: precautionary measures ordered by the court, guardianship, delegation of parental authority, approvals / non-approvals of the enforcement procedures, different issues regarding minors, protection orders, issues concerning the foreigners, seizure / detention / arrest of ships, suspension of strike.

when it is possible, the courts can set the necessary measures in order to judge by videoconference and also can send all the procedural documents by fax, electronic mail or by other means that ensure the transmission of the document and the confirmation of its receipt;
the hearings can be postponed in case of request send by an isolated, quarantined person or hospitalized in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic; in case the judges do not agree with the postponement request, they will postpone the decision in order for the parties to submit written conclusions;
according to the decree, the enforcement procedures will continue only if they will be in compliance with the health discipline provisions established by the National Committee on Special Emergency Situations, in order to protect the rights to life and physical integrity of the forced execution participants.

On 23.03.2020, the National Union of Bailiffs issued a press release stating that all the evacuation procedures and all the direct enforcement procedures (for example, concerning the obligation to return a movable) are suspended until the end of the state of emergency. Even though the indirect enforcement procedure (garnishment, selling the assets of the debtor in order to recover the claim) is not suspended, 99% of the bailiffs suspended their entire activity due to the fact that they do not comply with the health discipline provisions established by the National Committee on Special Emergency Situations.

the activity in the criminal prosecution procedure and the activity of the judges of rights and freedoms will be limited to certain cases; all the other cases that are not considered to be urgent will be suspended;
during the state of emergency, all the cases that are not considered to be urgent will be suspended, without the need of any request; during the state of emergency, the pending appeal terms will be discontinued and therefore, after the end of the state of emergency, there will be issued new terms, of the same duration; in case the parties appealed the decisions before the decree was established, the case files will be submitted to the competent courts after the end of the state of emergency;
all the auctions established in the criminal files in order to sell the seized movables are suspended by law;
the statute of limitation regarding the criminal liability is suspended in the cases where no criminal prosecution documents are carried out or where the criminal case is suspended according to this decree.

The list provided by the Romanian courts of law can be supplemented or modified in the event of any exceptional change.

The acute respiratory syndrome 2019-nCov, known as “Covid-19” emerged in China at the end of 2019 and has rapidly extended on the globe, forcing the World Health Organisation to declare Covid-19 epidemics as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. The effects of the pandemic are numerous ranging from psychological and behavioral (e.g. fear and panics are sometimes induced in a disproportionate manner through the so called “fake news”) to the economical ones, respectively fiscal shocks on medium and long terms which affect the economy.

Neither of these effects should be neglected, these being correlated and producing a chain reaction. The economic effects are assessed on the long term while the governments take measures to alleviate the considerable impact of the pandemic. The European Commission (the “Commission”) has prepared a set of norms to counteract the effect which Covid-19 has over the member states. . As Romania is concerned, according to the information in media, Romania will receive 1 billion Euro from the European Commission to mitigate the effects of Covid-19 pandemics.

The Commission intends to use all instruments it has available in order to diminish certain economic effects of the pandemics, for natural persons (so that the incomes and the jobs are not affected in a disproportionate manner), as well as for the legal persons (supporting the legal persons by ensuring them that there is enough liquidity on the market to sustain the economies of the member states). In this sense, the Commission emphasizes the flexibility of the legal framework regarding the State Aid and of the Growth Pact Frameworks.

As regards the measures to protect the workers against the unemployment and the loss of jobs as a consequence of Covid-19 pandemics, the Commission makes the following proposals:

supporting the member states by sustaining the programs of partial unemployment, professional reconversion which proved their efficacy in the past.
preparing with celerity of the legislative proposal regarding the European system for unemployment reinsurance in order to assist the member states to preserve the jobs and competencies.
Ensuring the mobilization of the European Social Fund, for encouraging the workers and the medical aid through the so-called Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative”).
Using the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for encouraging the dismissed and independent. For 2020, the available amount is 179 million EURO.

Regarding the available protection in the context of Covid-19 pandemics, the Commission ascertains the following:

Observing the European framework regarding state aid, the member states may take measures to support SMEs which have economic difficulties due to Covid-19 pandemics.
The support measures which the Member States may take are extensive and range from wage subsidies, suspension of the payment of the tax on profit, suspension of the VAT or of the social contributions.
The legal framework of the state aid allows the member states to take measures to save the enterprises in need for urgent liquidity.
The Commission emphasizes that it will redirect in the following period the amount of 1 billion Euro from the EU budget as a guarantee fo the European Investment Fund in order to stimulate the banking institutions to supply liquidity for SMEs and to enterprises with medium capitalisation.
The Commission intends to offer the possibility to postpone the payments of the affected debtors, whose amounts became due.
It is useful to mention the provisions of article 107 paragraph 2 letter (b) from the Treaty regarding the functioning of the European Union (“TFUE”) which establishes the compatibility with the internal market of the state aids with the purpose to redress the damages produced by natural calamities or by other extraordinary events. Our view is that a Covid-19 pandemic is an extraordinary event, triggering the applicability of the above mentioned legal provisions.

In the light of this extraordinary event, we believe that the domain of the state aid compatible with the European market, as those are regulated by the provisions of article 107 of the TFUE will have a more extensive applicability, the more so as certain member states as Germany, France and Poland have announced generous economic measures to sustain their economies.

Attention must be paid to the provisions of article 107 paragraph (3) letter (e) of the TFUE which entitles the Commission to suggest to the Council of the European Union other categories of state aid which may be granted in the European market.

In order to mitigate the effects of Covid-19 pandemics, the Commission published a proposal of regulation (the “Proposal”), amending the Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (“Regulation 1303”) and Regulation 508/2014 on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (“Regulation 508”).

Being a part of the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative, the purpose of the Proposal is to mobilise the investments in the health sector as well as in any other economy sectors.. Thus, the Commission considers that the amounts allocated to the member states may be used to mitigate the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemics and to help the SMEs.

Therefore, the Commission aims to allocate the amount of 37 billion Euro through the Structural and Investment European Funds. In the first phase, the Commission suggests to the Council of the European Union and to the European Parliament to release the amount of 8 billion Euro in liquidity allocated to the member states affected by Covid-19 pandemics and to wave the request customary made to the member states to reimburse during 2020 the allocated funds which have not been used from the European Development Regional Fund („EDRF)” the European Social Fund, Cohesion Fund and Maritime and Fisheries Fund. These amounts may be used by the member states to accelerate the investments in respect of Covid-19 pandemics.

Moreover, the financial instruments which are financed through the above mentioned Funds will be designed to ensure the support for the working capital of the SMEs, as a temporary measure, if need may be.

The investment priority of the EDRF becomes the streghtening of research, technological and innovation so that the investments in products and services become adequate to respond to the crisis in the medical field. Such expenses should be elligible as of 1st February 2020.

The effects of Covid-19 pandemics are felt by worldwide economies. Largely, the impact thereof depends upon the measures taken by each member state, according to the economic and social priorities and necessities. The measures taken by the Commission should be seen as tool to mitigate the effects of Covid-19 pandemics.

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_459

https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/regulation-coronavirus-response-investment-initiative-march-2020_en.pdf

Relevant provisions:

Governmental Emergency Ordinance no. 1/1999 (hereinafter referred to as GEO no. 1/1999) regarding the state of siege and the state of emergency;
The Presidential Decree no. 195/16.03.2020 regarding the state of emergency established in Romania;
Military Ordinance no. 1/2020 regarding the first emergency measures concerning the crowds of persons and cross-border movement of goods;
Military Ordinance no. 2/2020 regarding the measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Definition:

According to GEO no. 1/1999, the state of emergency represents the set of exceptional measures of political, economic and public order nature applicable throughout the territory of the entire country or in some administrative-territorial units, rules that are established in the following situations: a) the existence of serious current or imminent dangers regarding the national security or the functioning of constitutional democracy; b) in case of imminent disasters or disasters already caused that make it necessary to prevent, limit or eliminate the consequences of disasters.

Conditions. Procedure. Applicability

The state of emergency is established by the Romanian President by decree, which has to be countersigned by the prime-minister and published in the Official Journal of Romania. The state of emergency has to be authorized by the Romanian Parliament.

Depending on the evolution of the danger situations, the President of Romania, with the approval of the Parliament, can extend the duration of the established state of emergency and can extend or narrow its scope.

In case the state of emergency is established, the coordination will be carried out by the Ministry of Administration and Interior. The Community Police can be militarized, entirely or only in certain administrative-territorial units, which will carry out their activity under the Ministry of Administration and Interior.

During the state of siege or the state of emergency, there can be issued military ordinances, respectively orders, which are mandatory, according to the law.

During the state of emergency, the military ordinances are issued by: a) the Minister of Administration and Interior or his replacement of law, when the state of emergency was instituted throughout the country; b) by the officers empowered by the minister of administration and interior or by their legal substitutes, when the state of emergency was established in certain administrative-territorial units.

During the state of emergency, measures may be ordered: a) implementation of the plans already approved, according to the provisions of the present emergency ordinance and of the decree by which they were established; b) organizing and ensuring with priority the transport, communications, products, resources and infrastructure for the needs of the defense forces; c) closing the state border, entirely or in the area where the state of emergency was established, intensifying the control at the border crossing points that remain open, as well as monitoring the border for its entire length; d) requisition of goods, according to the law.

According to the Presidential Decree no. 195/2020 (published in Official Journal from 16.03.2020), in Romania was established the state of emergency for a period of 30 days as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic. During the state of emergency, the exercise of the following rights was restricted: a) free movement; b) the right to intimate, family and private life; c) inviolability of the domicile; d) the right to education; e) freedom of assembly; f) the right of private property; g) the right to strike; h) the economic freedom.

According to the decree, in the economic area:

the beneficiaries of the European funds affected by the emergency measures adopted by this decree may decide, together with the managing authorities / intermediary bodies, to suspend the financing contracts concluded according to the law;
the measures will be taken to ensure the continuity in supply, respectively extraction, production, processing, transport, distribution, supply, maintenance service and repair of resources and raw and / or semi-processed materials necessary for the proper functioning of the national energy system, as well as ensuring the continuity of its function and all public utility services.
during the state of emergency, the prices for medicines and medical equipment, for the food of strict necessity and for the services of public utility (electricity and heat, gas, water supply, sanitation, fuels, etc.) can be capped, within the price limit average of the last 3 months before declaring the state of emergency.

In the health area: the reimbursement of the medical leave granted to persons quarantined for COVID-19, will be carried out with priority by providing additional amounts in the FNUASS budget at the required level.

In the labor area:

the provisions of the Law no. 19/2020 are not applicable to the employees who work in the national defence system, prison, public medical units and other categories laid down by the order of the Internal Affairs Minister, Economy, Energy and Business Environment Minister, Transportation, Infrastructure and Communication Minister; this employees have the right to a raise salary in the amount provided by the Law no. 19/2020 (75%) in case the other parent does not benefit from this legal provisions;
the decree regulates a derogation from the provisions of Law no. 81/2018, respectively, until the end of the state of emergency, the employer – whether private or public – can decide unilaterally the home-working or the tele-working;
until the end of the state of emergency, there will be no control from the Territorial Labor Inspectorates, excepting the controls made by the Labor and Social Protection Minister and by the Labor Inspection in certain cases (commission of offences with higher social danger level and investigation of work accidents);
until the end of the state of emergency it is prohibited any kind of collective labor dispute in certain areas;
the collective contracts and agreements are maintained until the end of the state of emergency;
the decree regulates a derogation from the provisions of Governmental Emergency Ordinance no. 111/2010 concerning the leave and the monthly indemnity for childcare – the person entitled will keep the incentive insertion in case of losing the job because of COVID-19 epidemic;
the requests in order to obtain the social benefits can be send by electronic means;
the validity of the certificates (including the ones regarding the disabilities) or attestations issued in the field will be extended until the end of the state of emergency.

GEO no. 30/2020 for the amendments and additions to some normative acts, as well as for establishing measures for the social protection in the context of the epidemiological situation determined by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, sets more amendments and additions in the labor and social insurance field.

In the justice area:

any statute of limitation and deterioration period will not run, and, if they have started to run, they are suspended pursuant to the present decree; therefore, the provisions of art. 2.532 pt. 9 thesis II of Law no. 287/2009 regarding the Civil Code or other contrary legal provisions will not be applicable;
during the state of emergency, only the urgent files will continue to be judged (the cases will be established by the Supreme Court or the governing bodies of the courts of appeal); taking into account the circumstances, the judges can set short hearings, including from one day to another or even on the same day;
when it is possible, the courts can set the necessary measures in order to judge by videoconference and also can send all the procedural documents by fax, electronic mail or by other means that ensures the transmission of the document and the confirmation of its receipt;
the hearings can be postponed in case of request send by an isolated, quarantined person or hospitalized in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic; in case the judges will not agree with the postponement request, they will postpone the decision in order for the parties to submit written conclusions;
the enforcement procedures will continue only if they will be in compliance with the health discipline provisions established by the National Committee on Special Emergency Situations, in order to protect the rights to life and physical integrity of the forced execution participants;
the activity in the criminal prosecution procedure and the activity of the judges of rights and freedoms will be limited to certain cases; all the other cases that are not considered to be urgent will be suspended;
during the state of emergency, all the cases that are not considered to be urgent will be suspended, without the need of any request; during the state of emergency, the pending appeal terms will be discontinued and therefore, after the end of the state of emergency, there will be issued new terms, of the same duration; in case the parties appealed the decisions before the decree was established, the case files will be submitted to the competent courts after the end of the state of emergency;
all the auctions established in the criminal files in order to sell the seized movables are suspended by law;
the statute of limitation regarding the criminal liability is suspended in the cases where no criminal prosecution documents are carried out or where the criminal case is suspended according to this decree.

In addition to this, during the state of emergency, the classes from all the educational institutions are suspended. The legal deadlines established for solving the requests made in the exercise of the free access to information of public interest, as well as the requests are considered doubled.

Through the Military Ordinance no. 1/2020 (published in Official Journal from 18.03.2020) were issued several measures in order to protect the citizens, respectively:

the activity of serving and consuming food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, organized by restaurants, hotels, cafes or other public places, in the spaces designed for this purpose – inside or outside the location -, is suspended;
this kind of entities are allowed to provide the services as “drive-in”, “room-service” or “delivery”;
all cultural, scientific, artistic, religious, sports, entertainment or gambling, spa treatment and personal care activities, held in confined spaces, are suspended;
it is forbidden to organize and conduct any event involving more than 100 people in open spaces;
all the flights performed from Romania to Spain and from Spain to Romania are suspended, for a period of 14 days, starting with March 18, 2020, 6:00 pm – current time in Romania; the measure in order to suspend the flights performed from Romania to Italy and from Italy to Romania, is extended for a period of 14 days, starting with March 23, 2020;
isolated persons at home, quarantined or hospitalized, as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19, are forbidden to leave home/the location where they are placed without the approval of the competent authorities.

According to the Military Ordinance no. 2/2020, there were taken several measures:

except the urgent dental interventions, starting with 22.03.2020, 10 p.m., the activity in the dental medicine offices is temporarily suspended;
starting with 22.03.2020, 10 p.m., all the retail activities of products and services in the commercial centers in which several economic operators operate, except for the sale of food, veterinary or pharmaceutical products and of cleaning services, are temporarily suspended;
people can circulate outside the house but only in groups of maximum 3 persons;
religious services will be held without public and can be transmitted online;
no more than 8 persons can attend at weddings, baptisms and funerals;
the local public administration authorities have the obligation to identify and keep records of persons of age over 65 years, without supporters or other form of assistance, and to ensure their support in order to minimize their exposure outside their houses;
as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the persons isolated at home who leave the location where they were placed without the approval of the competent authorities, will be considered persons with an increased risk of contagiousness and will be led by the public order forces and placed in institutionalized quarantine, under guard;
as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the quarantined persons who leave the location where they were placed, without the approval of the competent authorities, are quarantined for a new period of 14 days;
between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. it is recommended that the displacement of persons outside the home should be carried out only for the following reasons:

displacement in professional interest, between the home and the place(s) were the professional activity is carried out and back;
displacement in personal interest in order to provide goods that cover the basic needs of the persons and the pets(s), as well as goods necessary for the professional activity;
displacement in order to obtain medical assistance that cannot be delayed nor carried out remotely;
displacement for justified reasons, such as caring/accompanying the child, assisting elderly, sick or disabled persons or death of a family member;
short trips, near the house, related to the individual physical activity of the people and the needs of the pets/pets;
in case the persons will go out of the house between the hours of 10 p.m. – 6:00 a.m., they will be required to present: the service card, the certificate issued by the employer/a statement on their own responsibility (if they are out for professional purposes) or a statement on their own responsibility (if they are out for personal purposes);

starting with 22.03.2020, 10 p.m., it is forbidden for foreign citizens and stateless persons to enter Romania; exceptions:

in case they transit the territory of Romania by transit aisles organized by agreements with the neighboring states;
they are family members of Romanian citizens;
they are family members of citizens of other Member States of the European Union or of the European Economic Area or of the Swiss Confederation, residing in Romania;
they are persons which hold a long-stay visa, a residence permit or a document equivalent to the residence permit issued by the Romanian authorities according to the GEO no. 194/2002 regarding the regime of foreigners in Romania, republished, with subsequent amendments and additions, or a document equivalent to them issued by the authorities of other states, according to the law of the European Union;
they are traveling in a professional interest, proven with visa, residence permit or other equivalent document;
they are diplomatic or consular personnel, personnel of international organizations, military personnel or personnel who can provide humanitarian aid;
they are passengers in transit, including those repatriated as a result of granting consular protection;
they are passengers traveling for imperative reasons (medical or family);
they are persons who need international protection or for other humanitarian reasons.

On 19 March 2020, the European Data Protection Board (the EDPB) has adopted a statement on the processing of personal data in the context of the Covid-19 outbreak. The Statement concerns the processing of different types of personal data by Governments, public and private organisations throughout Europe during their efforts to contain and mitigate Covid-19.

The EDPB stated that GDPR rules do not represent an obstacle to the measures taken to prevent and fight Covid-19 pandemic, but would like to underline that, even in these exceptional circumstances the personal data of the subjects must be protected. The measures taken against Covid-19 must guarantee the lawful processing of personal data and respect the general principles of law and must not be irreversible.

The GDPR allows competent public health authorities and employers to process personal data in the context of epidemic, in accordance with national law, the EDPB gave as example the following situation: “when processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest in the area of public health, under those circumstances, there is no need to rely on consent of individuals. ”

The EDPB considers that articles 6 and 9 of the GDPR enable the processing of personal data (including special categories), when it falls in the legal mandate of the public authority provided by national legislation and the conditions of the GDPR. Derogations to the prohibition of processing special categories of personal data, such as health data, are envisaged by the GDPR, where it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest in the public health area (art. 9.2 (i)), on the basis of Union or national law, or where there is the need to protect the vital interests of the data subject (art. 9.2 (c)), referred explicitly to the control of an epidemic.

With regard to the employment the EDPB states that the processing of personal data may be necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the employer is subject such as obligations relating to health and safety at the workplace, or to the public interest, such as the control of disease and other threats to health.

If it is the case, employers should inform staff about Covid-19 cases and take protective measures, and communicate only necessary information. Although, in cases where it is necessary to reveal the name of the employee(s) who contacted the virus, but only for preventive context, and if the national law allows it, the concerned employee(s) shall be informed in advance and their dignity and integrity shall be protected.

Regarding the processing of telecom data, such as location data, can only be used by the operator when made anonymous or with the consent of individuals. The Member States can only adopt exceptional legislations regarding this kind of personal data, only if it constitutes a necessary, appropriate and proportional measure within a democratic society.

Some Member States, governments foresee the possibility to geolocate individuals or to send public health messages to individuals in a specific area by phone or text message. The EDPB advised that the public authorities should first seek to process location data in an anonymous way (i.e. processing data aggregated in a way that individuals cannot be re-identified), which could enable generating reports on the concentration of mobile devices at a certain location.

However, when it is not possible to only process anonymous data, adequate safeguards should be put in place by Member States, such as providing individuals of electronic communication services the right to a judicial remedy.

The EDPB asserted that the proportionality principle applies, as the least intrusive solution should always be preferred taking into account the specific purpose to be achieved. “Tracking” of individuals (i.e. processing of historical non-anonymised location data) could be considered proportional under exceptional circumstances and depending on the concrete modalities of the processing – but under enhanced scrutiny and safeguards to ensure the respect of data protection principles (proportionality of the measures in terms of duration and scope, limited data retention and purpose limitation).

All the above mentioned measures should be processed for specified and explicit purposes, should be strictly limited to the duration of the emergency at hand and must respect the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

In addition, the EDPB stated that the data subject should receive transparent information, easily accessible and provided in clear and plain language on the processing activities, including the retention period for collected data and the purposes of the processing. Moreover the EDPB emphasized on the importance of adequate documented security measures and confidentiality policies to be taken in order to ensure that personal data are not disclosed to unauthorised parties.

During this hard period we are experiencing at the global level, we are challenged in all aspects of our lives regarding health, discipline and even the organisation of near future in a way to adapt to our new needs in which the expenses for pleasure shall be almost eliminated and the useful and necessary expenses shall be the ones we shall focus upon.

But what should we do when certain agreements have already been concluded before the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, which now, due to the negative effects upon the economy, the parties are put in a position of failure to observe the obligations borne by these agreements due to objective causes defined as force majeure, which prevents the performance of their contractual obligations.

It is well known that in the final part of most of the agreements the force majeure clause is stated, which is meant to be the safety net in case the obligations cannot be observed due to an “external, unpredictable, absolutely invincible and unavoidable event” [the Civil Code].

But is this really true? If indeed there is a force majeure clause in the agreement and “if the law does not provide otherwise or the parties do not agree otherwise, is the liability waived when the damage is caused by force majeure”? [the Civil Code]

Let’s take a look at what we know an event of force majeure represents – generally, the force majeure refers to events which are not connected to the actions of men and which cannot be foreseen, as earthquakes, tsunamis, storms, heavy snow, therefore extraordinary natural events; but also extraordinary events caused by human as wars, riots and revolutions.

And yet the question stands – is the pandemic regarded as an event of force majeure? The Warning launched by CCIR (the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania) in respect of the corona virus, states that:

“Some force majeure clauses may be provided to include epidemics or pandemics. When a force majeure clause is provided to cover a more general area– even without including epidemics or pandemics, but nonetheless providing for any action or fact arising beyond the control or will of the affected parties, then the spreading of the epidemic or pandemic can be considered a force majeure event. However, an insufficiently defined force majeure clause, which refers only to natural events or which states only the phrase <a force majeure event>, could be considered as insufficient for the exemption of liability.”

Therefore, the fact that a force majeure clause covers explicitly the situation of an epidemic or pandemic seems insufficient. The contracting party which invokes the impossibility to observe its obligations due to Covid-19 must prove this and furthermore it must prove that it tried, by any reasonable methods, to avoid or mitigate the consequences.

The jurisprudence of the Court of International Commercial Arbitration attached to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania in respect of similar situation provides that it is the decision of the damaged party to take or not into account the reasons and proofs, together with the notice of force majeure issued by CCIR, presented by the other contracting party with a view to justify the failure to observe its contractual obligations.

We shall certainly be the witnesses of the creation of an extensive jurisprudence of the courts in respect of force majeure clauses in agreements, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact the courts shall be the ones to have the last word and to bring improvement in the content of force majeure clauses, post-Covid-19.