Following the complete harmonisation, in order to ensure the same high level of protection of economic interests for all consumers in the European Union, the National Authority for Consumer Protection has elaborated a draft Emergency Ordinance regarding loan contracts for consumers, after public debate, and sent it to Parliament for approval.

The normative act regulates the information to be provided to consumers in a pre-contract stage, information to be included in loan contracts, as well as the related publicity, but also aspects related to interest rates and commissions and the formula for calculating the annual effective interest rate.

Thus, before signing a loan contract, consumers will receive a standard form containing information that would enable them to compare several offers in order to make an informed decision on whether to conclude a loan contract.

At the same time, the draft lays down the terms under which the consumer can repay the loan in advance, his rights, but also the compensation that a lender may charge for early repayment. Compensation is established under the form of percentage and may not exceed 1% of the value of the early repaid loan, if the time period between repayment and the agreed date of contract termination is more than one year and, respectively, 0.5% if the period is less than 1 year.

The normative act will also apply to contracts that provide the "overdraft" facility, by either establishing an easier regime for certain types of "overdrafts", or entirely applying to those contracts under which the loan must be repaid in a period of more than 3 months," reads the substantiation note.

As regards the calculation of the effective annual interest rate (DAE), the formula is intended to provide a digital and comparable representation of costs, so that one can compare the offers of various national lende