THE WEEK IN REVIEW

June 12-16, 2023

Daniela Budu, 16.06.2023, 17:20

Romania has a new prime minister

Social-Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu is the new prime minister of Romania after the resignation, on Monday, of Liberal Nicolae Ciucă. This moment has been expected since May, but postponed by the general strike in Education, and provided for in the agreement concluded between Liberals and Social Democrats as early as November 2021. The agreement provided that, after a year and a half in which the coalition cabinet is led by the PNL leader, he hands over the position to his Social-Democratic partner. His vision for Romania puts citizens and solving the problems they face at the center of public policies, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said. Among the measures being considered are the fulfillment of the objectives assumed under the NPRR, the decrease in inflation, continued protection of vulnerable people, the gradual reduction of labor taxation, and a sizable increase in the minimum wage. Marcel Ciolacu:

“These are normal measures, so that, by the end of this government’s mandate, any employee in Romania earns a minimum of 500 euros net, and on January 1, 2025 at the latest, the average earnings reach 1,000 euros net.

The new cabinet is structured on 18 ministries, compared to 20 in the previous one, which are divided between the PSD and the PNL. The Social Democrats kept most of the ministers from the current executive. New names are at the Ministry of Agriculture, Florin Barbu, and at the Ministry of Digitization, Bogdan Ivan. The former finance minister, Adrian Câciu, took over the ministry of European Projects. The PNL team has Cătălin Predoiu in the positions of deputy prime minister and minister of the interior. The Finance Ministry is covered by Marcel Boloş. the Minister for Development is Adrian Veștea, and the Minister for Justice is Alina Gorghiu. Ligia Deca continues her term at the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Culture is headed by Raluca Turcan. UDMR is no longer part of the governing coalition. From the opposition, the USR claims that the government’s platform is unrealistic, and accuses PSD and PNL of not keeping the promises made at the time of taking over the government.

The education strike gets suspended

The government overturn became possible after the trade unionists in education announced the suspension of the strike, given that the vast majority of their demands were met. In this way, Romanian students returned to their desks on Tuesday for the remaining four days of this school year, after three weeks of a general strike in education. There were three major protests and rallies in front of the government building,and the presidency, where teachers demanded their rights. Following repeated negotiations between the union organizations and the representatives of the executive, it was established, through two emergency ordinances, an increase by approximately 25% in the salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff this month, the granting of an annual bonus, until 2027, of 1,500 lei (about 300 euros) for teaching staff and 500 lei (100 euros) for non-teaching staff. Also, the salaries of the starting teachers will be at the level of the average gross salary in the economy. In addition, the Government has promised to grant 50% of the difference between the salaries being paid and those in the new scale by the entry into force of the new salary law, starting on January 1, 2024. The decision to suspend the strike does not satisfy them, however, some of the Education employees who do not agree with the results of the negotiations, and would have wanted the protest to continue. With the suspension of the education strike, this school year has ended as established, and the calendar of national exams will be respected.

Optimistic economic figures for Romania

Inflation in Romania continued to decrease in May, as food, services, and non-food goods became more expensive. Data from the National Institute of Statistics show that the annual inflation reported in May 2023 decreased compared to the previous month, standing at 10.64%, from 11.23% in April. Analysts say that the decrease in inflation is an expected development, which encourages the economy to develop, and stimulates investments. However, experts add, it is possible that the data related to salary increases, also published by the NIS, may affect the forecasts regarding the evolution of inflation. According to the figures for April, average net earnings rose by an average of 15% compared to the corresponding month in 2022, meaning above the annual rate of inflation. Recently, the Institute announced that Romania’s economy grew by 2.3 percent in the first quarter, compared to the same period last year, with trade, IT, professional activities, and construction contributing to this rise. By contrast, industry had a negative contribution to the increase in GDP. According to estimates, economic growth will continue, albeit at a slower pace than last year, due to persistent inflation, tight financing conditions, and weaker economic growth recorded by Romania’s main trading partners. In the European context, the country is doing well, analysts say, considering that, according to Eurostat, it had the highest economic growth in the Union in the first quarter of the year, along with Spain, Cyprus and Malta.

Romania has a new airport

A charter aircraft of the national airline TAROM performed the inauguration flight for Ghimbav International Airport in Braşov (central Romania), on Thursday, the only one built from scratch in the country in the last 50 years. The new airport is also the first to have a control tower operated remotely, with the help of a number of video cameras. Brasov-Ghimbav International Airport is the third largest in the country. At first, it will fly to four destinations in Germany, and from August there will also be flights to London, Barcelona and Brussels.