The agenda of the new government cabinet, for the next period, is a bushy one. The most important office in the state will go to the vote again in 2025, following the cancellation of the November 24 election, which blocked the election of the new president before the second round.
The end of 2024 brought a new cabinet led by Marcel Ciolacu PHOTO Inquam Photos Octav Ganea
The former government cabinet, also led by Marcel Ciolacu, left a series of arrears to the new Executive. In addition to the problems regarding payment requests from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNNR) and the measures necessary to reduce the budget deficit, there is also the budget for 2025, which should have been resolved by the end of the year, as well as the election of the future head of state, after The CCR decided on December 6 to cancel the first round of voting on November 24.
Election of the President
The choice of the future president remains in the hands of the new government cabinet. The leaders of the pro-European coalition have determined that the first round will take place on March 23, followed by a second round on April 6.
The negotiations at the end of the year also brought a common candidate. PSD, PNL, UDMR and the minority group in the Chamber of Deputies decided to support Crin Antonescu in the presidential race, despite a surprise candidacy announced by the capital’s mayor, Nicușor Dan. The mayor was hoping for the support of the right-wing parties, being even circulated on the list of potential joint candidates at the end of the year. However, Nicușor Dan is left with only one parliamentary party that he could try to convince, that is, USR.
Although he supported Elena Lasconi in the previous election, the mayor of the capital now hopes that the head of the political formation will give up the candidacy.
In context, the presidential race in 2025 seems likely to bring not only a new division of the right-wing electorate, but also an alienation of the voters of the declared pro-European parties. The only one who announced that he will support another candidate in the absence of a coalition agreement is the head of AUR, George Simion, who supports a candidacy of Călin Georgescu.
The budget for 2025
Another outstanding issue left by the new cabinet is the State Budget Law for 2025, although Marcel Ciolacu announced since November that it was being prepared. “I want to leave the future Government with a budget already approved in Parliament”, stated Ciolacu on November 21, specifying that the major public investments financed next year, selected on the basis of high economic and social benefits, are prioritized.
The state budget for 2025 was not adopted as expected, but the new cabinet led by Marcel Ciolacu had a few days to prepare before January 1, also adopting the train ordinance, which brings a series of measures to reduce expenses. The normative act, however, caused an end of the year with protests.
In terms of what the budget provides, the distribution of funds in the Capital was also the subject of a referendum, regarding which Nicușor Dan emphasized that it can be transposed into law by the Parliament by June.
According to some sources from the current governing coalition, quoted by Digi24, the draft state budget should be completed by January 9.
PNRR, forgotten in the background
The last months of 2024 brought a series of unforeseen events, in the context of the parliamentary and presidential elections, which captured all the attention. The new government cabinet will also have to complete the milestones from the third payment request from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), which seems to have remained on the back burner. One of the main points where the rulers have failed so far is in the reform of state institutions.
From payment request number 3, 1.1 billion euros out of 2.4 billion euros were suspended, at the recommendation of the European Commission, and the month of March 2025 would bring a blockage regarding the payment of invoices from the PNRR, according to an analysis monitorpnrr.eu. The PSD-PNL government could not even submit payment request number 4, because it has a series of unfulfilled milestones. The fourth payment request is postponed indefinitely.
In payment request number two, the Commission announced that two milestones were not satisfactorily met, resulting in the suspension of €53.4 million. In the last days of 2024, however, the European Commission unlocked a gross amount of 42.59 million euros, Romania receiving 37.05 million euros of European funds, as part of the second payment request.
Reducing the budget deficit
At the end of the year, forecasts showed a budget deficit of over 8.5%. Romania committed to the European Commission to reduce the budget deficit to below 3% through a seven-year fiscal plan. So that the necessary measures as early as 2025 could bring other increases in fees and taxes. The new finance minister, Tanczos Barna (UDMR), however, promised that he would do everything possible not to increase the VAT rate and the income tax.
However, the government approved, in the Train Ordinance, several fiscal measures, in addition to freezing salaries and pensions in the budget sector, including the increase from 8% to 10% of the tax on dividends and the reduction of the threshold for micro-enterprises from 500,000 euros to 250,000 euros, including during the fiscal year. Starting from January 1, 2026, the threshold will reach 100,000 euros. A 1% tax for special constructions, also known as the “pillar tax”, was also introduced.
