The new EU rules on consumer credit apply from 20 November; Romania has no transposition measures registered with EUR-Lex

The Directive extends protection to small loans and certain deferred payment services and introduces the right to human intervention in automated creditworthiness assessments. The EUR-Lex register does not display transposition measures notified by Romania, following the reasoned opinion decided by the Commission on 1 October.

The new European rules on consumer credit must be applied by Member States from 20 November 2026 and provide protections for small loans, certain buy-now, pay-later purchases, and automated creditworthiness assessments. Ten days before this deadline, the EUR-Lex register of transposition measures displays zero acts notified by Romania for Directive (EU) 2023/2225. The European Commission had decided on 1 October to issue a reasoned opinion for failure to notify full transposition. However, the status of the notifications does not allow the conclusion that all protections provided for by the Directive are absent from national legislation.

In brief

1.Member States were required to adopt and publish the transposition measures by 20 November 2025 and must apply them from 20 November 2026. The EUR-Lex register consulted on 10 November does not display measures notified by Romania.

2.The European scope extends to credits below 200 euros and certain “buy now, pay later” services. Some free deferrals granted directly by the merchant are exempt, under conditions that include periods of 50 or 14 days.

3.Consumers may request human intervention, explanations, and a reassessment of the creditworthiness evaluation when automated processing of personal data is used, under the conditions of the Directive.

4.On 1 October 2026, the Commission decided to issue a reasoned opinion for Romania, in case INFR(2026)0131, and 15 other states. The opinion is not a conviction; the Commission granted two months for a response and the necessary measures.

5.Contracts existing on 20 November are not automatically rewritten. The Directive provides transitional provisions and exceptions for certain open-ended contracts.

Adopted on 18 October 2023, the new Directive replaces the European framework from 2008 and adapts it to a market in which financing is increasingly offered through digital platforms. The expansion of the scope and the rules on data used to assess creditworthiness seek to prevent irresponsible lending and over-indebtedness, without generally prohibiting the use of algorithms.

20 November 2026 marks the beginning of the application of the national transposition measures provided for by Article 48 of the Directive, not the date of its adoption. Member States were required to adopt and publish the necessary rules by 20 November 2025. The difference between the two deadlines is particularly important in countries that have not fully fulfilled their transposition or notification obligations.

Romania is among the 16 Member States to which the European Commission decided, on 1 October 2026, to address reasoned opinions for failure to notify full transposition. The procedure against Romania has identifier INFR(2026)0131 and follows a letter of formal notice sent in January. The Commission granted the states concerned two months to respond and adopt the necessary measures. If the explanations or measures are deemed insufficient, the European executive may decide to refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union and may request financial penalties.

The EUR-Lex register consulted on 10 November displays zero measures notified by Romania. The database is updated weekly, and the Member States are responsible for the information notified; the recording of acts does not itself certify full and correct transposition, which is verified by the Commission. The absence of notifications does not demonstrate that every European provision is absent from Romanian law, but shows that the register does not document the national measures implementing the new framework.

One of the important changes concerns the scope of application. The previous Directive generally excluded credits below 200 euros. The new framework also includes this category, along with certain short-term loans and forms of deferred payment. The measure seeks to reduce situations in which a financial product with a low individual value benefits from less strict rules, even though the accumulation of several such obligations may increase the risk of over-indebtedness. States may nevertheless exempt these loans from certain information and advertising requirements laid down by the Directive, without excluding them wholesale from the new framework.

“Buy now, pay later” services allow the goods or service to be received before full payment. However, the Directive exempts certain deferrals granted directly by the supplier, without a third party providing credit, if full payment is made no later than 50 days after delivery, without interest or other charges, apart from limited late-payment charges permitted by national law. For large suppliers concluding distance contracts online, the exemption is narrower: payment must be made no later than 14 days, and a third party may neither provide nor purchase the credit; the other conditions concerning charges remain applicable.

For consumers, the practical consequence is that the protections applicable to an instalment-payment offer cannot be inferred solely from the advertising formula used by the merchant. What matters is who provides the financing, whether an intermediary exists, what costs the customer bears, and when the amount must be repaid. The classification of these products will also depend on national transposition rules.

The new Directive also introduces obligations concerning the presentation of pre-contractual information, advertising, and the assessment of repayment capacity. The aim is for the lending decision to be made on the basis of the total cost and contractual terms, not merely an apparently affordable monthly instalment.

One of the Directive’s central elements concerns how creditors assess creditworthiness. Article 18 requires an individualised assessment before the contract is concluded, using relevant, accurate, and proportionate information about the applicant’s financial situation. The assessment must be carried out in the consumer’s interest, to prevent irresponsible lending and over-indebtedness.

The text also limits the use of data. Special categories of personal information protected by Article 9 of the General Data Protection Regulation may not be used in this assessment, and social networks may not constitute an external source of information for determining creditworthiness. These restrictions do not mean that the Directive prohibits the use of algorithms or artificial intelligence in all lending operations.

When the creditworthiness assessment involves the automated processing of personal data, the consumer must be able to request human intervention from the creditor. This right includes obtaining a clear and understandable explanation of the assessment, the logic and risks of the processing, and its significance and effects on the decision. The applicant may express their point of view and request a reassessment of the evaluation and the decision to grant credit. The right concerns an assessment involving automated processing, not merely a decision made exclusively by an algorithm; the creditor must inform the consumer about these safeguards.

The right to human intervention is not equivalent to a right to receive the requested credit. The creditor may uphold a negative decision if the assessment justifies that outcome, but must comply with the procedural safeguards laid down in the applicable legislation.

The Directive limits the use of certain commercial mechanisms that may cause consumers to accept additional services without an explicit choice. Article 15 regulates consent for concluding contracts and ancillary services, including practices based on preselected options, while Article 17 prohibits the granting of unsolicited credit.

For insurance linked to a credit agreement, Article 14(4) requires states to establish a period after which data concerning an oncological diagnosis may no longer be used. The national period may not exceed 15 years from the completion of medical treatment. This is a ceiling, not a mandatory 15-year waiting period in every country, nor an identical rule for every insurance product.

The legislation also maintains an important distinction between new contracts and those already in progress. Under Article 47, contracts existing on 20 November 2026 remain, in principle, subject to the regime of the old Directive until they end. There are exceptions for certain provisions applicable to open-ended credit agreements. Therefore, the start of application of the new framework does not mean the automatic modification of all contracts signed previously. The exceptions for open-ended contracts concern, among other things, changes to interest, overdrafts, termination of the contract, and debt recovery; the new right to human intervention is not extended by this transitional provision to all existing contracts.

In Romania, Government Emergency Ordinance No. 50/2010 transposes the previous European framework and already contains obligations concerning pre-contractual information and creditworthiness assessment. Article 30 requires creditworthiness to be checked before the contract is concluded, on the basis of a sufficient volume of information. These existing protections should not be confused with the full implementation of the additional rules in the 2023 Directive, such as human intervention in automated assessments and the new classification of deferred-payment products.

For consumers and creditors, the approaching application date leaves open the issue of the national measures through which the new safeguards will operate in Romania. Rights existing under national legislation and the GDPR continue to matter, but the date set by the Directive alone does not prove that all new obligations are already operational in relations between customers and credit providers.