A new attempt to unblock the coalition: the leaders of the power meet on Monday, at 1:00 p.m., to settle the dispute on the reform of the administration. The meeting takes place under the pressure of PSD ministers’ refusal to approve the project, a fact that generated a new governmental impasse.
The Minister of Agriculture, Florin Barbu, announced on Sunday that he refused to sign the ordinance regarding the cuts in the administration, together with two other PSD ministers, Alexandru Rogobete and Bogdan Ivan. He specified that Ilie Bolojan interrupted, on Thursday, the Government meeting, and the discussions on this topic will be resumed on Monday, in the coalition meeting, from 13.00.
The emergency ordinance provides for the halting of PNRR projects that cannot be finished by the end of August and the halting of new projects from the Anghel Saligny program. The draft GEO was read in the first reading in the government meeting on Thursday.
Căciu: Romania has run out of PNRR funds
For his part, Adrian Căciu, former Minister of Finance, claims that Romania has run out of funds from the PNRR. He had 10.5 billion at his disposal and had already spent 11, he pointed out.
The reform of the public administration has been discussed by the coalition for more than half a year, being a backlog of the second package of fiscal-budgetary measures. The leaders of the governing coalition announced that they had reached an agreement at the end of last year.
Initially, the project had to be adopted by assuming responsibility in Parliament, but it must be adopted before the state budget for 2026, a context in which the OUG version is preferred by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.
The announcement was made by the spokesperson on Thursday, after the government meeting. She cited calendar reasons, stating that a quick entry into force of these provisions is needed, in order to contribute to next year’s budget.
Anticipated threats
On Sunday, former Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu stated that an exit from the PSD government is not excluded, and, “if the PSD leaves this government, at that moment we will go to early elections”because the PSD will not vote for a minority government.
He also accused the current prime minister of “accounting tricks”, in the context where the latest data indicate a recession in 2024 as well.
“It has never happened in the history of Romania – and I think that in the financial bodies I think they sit and laugh – to come after 2 years and say that Romania was in recession for two quarters, in 2024“, said the former prime minister.
In the opinion of the economist Bogdan Glăvan, the adjustment operated by the INS is not necessarily something out of the ordinary, being a normal revision in other states as well.
