June 28, 2023

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 28.06.2023, 13:55

Pensions. The Senate today passed
the bill on the reform of special pensions in the version approved earlier by
the Chamber of Deputies. The document refers to the pensions of magistrates,
the military, diplomats, parliament employees, the staff of the Court of
Accounts and those working in aeronautics. The bill provides, among others, for
a gradual increase in the retirement age from 60 to 65, a minimum of 25 years
in the same specialisation for magistrates to be able to benefit from the
service pension and a 15% tax on amounts exceeding the national average net
income. Senate speaker and Liberal leader Nicolae Ciucă said the special
pensions law passed today is essential to ensure a decent, fair and sustainable
pensions system for the entire society. On Monday, Parliament also passed a
bill on the elimination of special pensions for senators and deputies. The
reform of the special pensions system is requested under the National Recovery
and Resilience Plan.

Deficit. Romania’s budget deficit
went up to 2.32% of GDP after the first five months of the year, from 1.72% at
the end of April, the finance ministry said today. Budget revenues stood at
over 197 billion lei, up by 10.4%, while expenses amounted to 234 billion lei,
up 17.3%. This year’s budget is based on a budget deficit level of 4.4% of GDP.

Meeting. Russia is and will
continue to be the most direct and immediate threat to Euro-Atlantic security.
This is why we must be prepared to respond and provide the necessary support to
Ukraine, as well as to our most vulnerable partners, especially the Republic of
Moldova, said Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis in The Hague after a meeting
to prepare the NATO summit in Vilnius next month. Given Romania’s geostrategic
position, we are particularly interested in consolidating the eastern flank in
a coherent and unitary manner. At the meeting in The Hague, which was attended
by seven allied states on the eastern and northern flank, NATO secretary
general Jens Stoltenberg gave assurances that the alliance is constantly
strengthening its presence on the eastern flank. He also said it was too early
to speculate about the consequences of the movement of the Wagner troops to
Belarus, but emphasised that NATO is ready to defend itself against any threat.
We have sent a clear message to Moscow and Minsk that NATO is there to protect
every ally and every inch of NATO territory, Stoltenberg also said.

Food. The Romanian agriculture
ministry is today publishing a bill aimed at decreasing the price of food
products by capping mark-up. The draft emergency order provides for capping the
mark-up added by the big food chains to 20% in the case of 14 basic products,
including bread, milk, yoghurt, corn flour, oil, eggs, meat and vegetables. The
document provides for caps on mark-up along the entire chain. Processors will
thus also be obliged to levy a 20% mark-up, while distributors can only levy a
5% mark-up. The scheme is to be implemented for a period of three months and
also applies to imported products. The draft emergency order will reach the
government on Thursday, with the first effects of the measures expected to be
felt by the population from 1st August.

Evaluation. The Romanian authorities have welcomed the announcement of
the European Commission on the positive preliminary evaluation of the second
payment request under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, having noted
the fulfilment of 49 of the 51 milestones and targets Romania committed to. In
the case of the remaining two goals, which are concerned with the energy field,
the Commission has suspended payments, which are worth more than 53 million
euros. Prime minister Marcel Ciolacu promised Romania would catch up with the
two milestones delayed in order to cash in on all the funds it has been allocated. (CM)