The Government will approve in the meeting on Thursday, December 18, through an emergency ordinance, the reorganization of the Ministry of Culture, the method being that of merger by absorption with the Romanian Copyright Office (ORDA), a specialized body of the central public administration subordinate to the Government, with legal personality, which is being dissolved.
“To ensure the implementation, starting from January 1, 2026, of the reorganization measures provided for in Article I of the draft normative act, the Ministry of Culture will propose to the Government for adoption, within 30 days, the draft normative act to regulate the measures regarding its organization and operation – HG No. 90/2010. Thus, the abolition of the Office will produce the effects from the date of entry into force of the normative act regulating the organization and operation Ministry of Culture reorganized according to this emergency ordinance, which will take over all the rights and obligations of the Romanian Copyright Office”it is stated in the substantiation note of the project, according to Agerpres.
ORDA is the institution that ensures that artists, authors and other rights holders are legally protected and receive fair remuneration for the use of their works.
The Ministry of Culture will take over from the Office, on the basis of protocol, all the related activities, attributions, personnel, positions and assets, in accordance with the law. Also, the Ministry of Culture will take over all the rights, obligations, contracts, financing decisions, agreements and disputes of the abolished structure.
According to the reorganization measures proposed by the emergency ordinance “costs will be reduced (e.g. expenses related to the space used under the lease agreement concluded with RAPPS, responsible allocation of expenses regarding external travel, reduction of the number of public dignity functions, elimination of possible costs of service housing), simultaneously with the more efficient utilization of available resources, which will contribute to increasing institutional coherence, without affecting the operational independence or technical competence of specialized personnel”, it is specified in the explanatory note.
At the same time, the Executive will approve, through a decision, the National Strategy for Responsible Business Conduct for the period 2026-2030.
“The strategy aims to: ensure the transition from a fragmented framework to an integrated and proactive governmental approach regarding responsible business conduct and due diligence, through coherent public policies; to strengthen promotion actions for economic operators’ compliance with RBC principles and due diligence in order to develop informed policies and practices; to strengthen the integration of the RBC dimension in public policies aimed at human rights, work, the environment and the fight against corruption, in accordance with RBC principles; to capitalize on RBC principles and due diligence; to strengthen the involvement of stakeholders and civil society in RBC principles; it is shown in the substantiation note of the project.
Completion of the Electricity and Natural Gas Law
In the Government meeting on December 18, an emergency ordinance project will be approved regarding the completion of the Electricity and Natural Gas Law no. 123/2012.
The project establishes, among other things, that “The Ministry of Economy, Digitization, Entrepreneurship and Tourism has the capacity of contracting authority regarding the concession of the optical fiber network defined in article 3 point 991 of the Electricity and Natural Gas Law no. 123/2012, with subsequent amendments and additions. The annual fee related to the optical fiber network concession is collected by the grantor from the transport and system operator and is 0.4% of the value of the gross revenues achieved from data and information transport operations via optical fiber, but not less than 50,000 lei/year. The royalty obtained through the concession constitutes income to the state budget“.
A draft GEO will also be approved regarding the transfer of the National Agency for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men from the subordination of the Government and the coordination of the Prime Minister, through the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, to the subordination of the Ministry of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity.
Through a decision, the Executive will approve the substantiation Note regarding the necessity and opportunity of carrying out the expenses related to the investment project “Development of a digitized IT system in the sanitary-veterinary field and for food safety (SIDISVA)”.
“The digitization of workflows will reduce the time needed to process documents and improve the speed with which decisions are made, ensuring a quick response to veterinary and food emergency situations. To use the system developed by the project, 144 users will benefit from training as employees of the ANSVSA, the health-veterinary and food safety departments of the county and the city of Bucharest, central institutes, veterinarians, as well as 3 administrators employed by the ANSVSA to administer the system, configuring applications, managing equipment, security of communication networks“, according to the explanatory note.
A draft decision will also be approved regarding the granting of financial incentives to graduates who obtained an average of 10 in the national assessment for 8th grade graduates, session 2025 and in the national baccalaureate exam, special session and June 2025 session.
Another decision concerns the granting of emergency aid to people affected by calamities.
“Through the attached draft decision of the Government, it is proposed to grant emergency aid in the total amount of 3,686,198 lei to support a total number of 866 families and single persons who are in emergency situations caused by fires, dangerous meteorological phenomena, landslides, accidents or in special situations determined by the state of health or other causes that can lead to an increase in the risk of social exclusion, in order to improve the socio-material situation, to live and their health“, says the explanatory note.
Supplementing transfers from the state budget to the budget of the single national health insurance fund
Another draft decision provides for the allocation of an amount from the Budgetary Reserve Fund at the disposal of the Government, provided for in the state budget for 2025, to supplement the transfers from the state budget to the budget of the unique National Health Social Insurance Fund.
“Through this normative act, it is proposed to allocate the amount of 1,964,000 thousand lei from the Budgetary Reserve Fund at the disposal of the Government provided for in the state budget for 2025, by supplementing the balancing transfers provided for in the budget of the Ministry of Health, representing commitment credits and budget credits, for the financing of expenses with materials and services of a medical nature and expenses with medical leaves and social insurance allowances of health”it is stated in the explanatory note.
