New fiscal measures approved as constitutional

The bill for which the Cabinet has taken responsibility before Parliament has been declared constitutional

Corina Cristea, 19.10.2023, 13:50

The oppositions notification against theset of fiscal and budget-related measures for which the Cabinet has taken responsibility before Parliament has been dismissed by the Constitutional Court. The judges decided that the bill is constitutional, so the president may sign it into law. The president of the Constitutional Court of Romania, Marian Enache, explained:

Marian Enache: „The Court is satisfied that the Governments responsibility with respect to the bill concerned a unique and unified purpose, namely to increase revenues to the public budget and to cut down on expenditure. After the constitutionality review, we concluded that, in procedural terms, the responsibility procedure was in line with the requirements of the Constitutional Court and its case law. In terms of the substance, the Court found that provisions challenged by the signatories of the unconstitutionality notification are within the scope of the lawmakers right of suitability assessment in the financial and fiscal area.”

The core principles of the new legislative package include reducing public fund misuse by restricting procurement, reducing the number of executive positions and merging certain public institutions, scrapping a number of tax exemptions, fighting fraud and tax evasion.And according to PM Marcel Ciolacu, the implementation of these measures will help narrow this years budget deficit to 5.7% of the GDP.

The Constitutional Courts decision proves that the allegations of the Opposition were ungrounded, says Gabriel Andronache, head of the Liberal floor group in the Chamber of Deputies:

Gabriel Andronache: „This is obviously not the same situation as the precedent mentioned by the Opposition parties in their notification. These are provisions that are organically connected, so the grounds for unconstitutionality cannot be upheld.”

Save Romania Union, in opposition, which challenged the bill, sees the Courts decision as unfair and argues that the new legislation is an attack against the incomes of Romanias honest citizens. Ionuţ Moşteanu, spokesman for USR:

Ionuţ Moşteanu: „What we see today is Ciolacu raising the taxes for honest Romanians using the hand of the Constitutional Court. But this Court has renounced its constitutional role, and is trampling on its own past decisions. Essentially, the Court helps Ciolacu to get his hands into the pockets of hardworking people, to raise taxes so that he may continue to pay his party cronies.”

The USR president, Cătălin Drulă, announced the party would table a simple motion against the finance minister. (AMP)