THE WEEK IN REVIEW
December 11-15, 2023
Roxana Vasile, 15.12.2023, 19:10
Romania’s budget in 2024
The PSD-PNL coalition government in Bucharest passed, on Thursday, late at night, the draft laws on the State budget and the social security budget for 2024, before sending them to the Parliament for debate and adoption until Christmas. Next year’s budget is built on an economic growth of 3.4%, an average annual inflation of 6%, and a deficit of 5% of the GDP. The budget is also focused on investments of approximately 7% of the GDP. Education will receive the most funds in history. Transport and healthcare will also benefit from budget increases. Also, the Ministry of the Interior was allocated an additional 1 billion lei (200 million euros) for the fight against drug use. Starting on June 1, the minimum wage over the economy will be 3,700 lei (740 euros). According to Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, pensions will be increased, from January 1, tied with the inflation rate of 13.8%, and then, from September 1, they will be recalculated in favor of the beneficiaries. Teacher salaries will also be increased, and there is a need for a 5% increase in the entire budget system, with the exception of dignitaries. There will be no tax increases in 2024, the revenue increase being exclusively the effect of investments and the fight against tax evasion – said the Prime Minister, whose government did not take into account the negative opinion of the Economic and Social Council, which is advisory, but mandatory. The 2024 budget is a colossal sample of cynicism: the Titanic is sinking and they are setting off fireworks – the opposition parliamentary group AUR reacted in a statement. Also on Thursday, the Government also adopted a new emergency ordinance which provides, in the budgetary sector, the elimination of vouchers, the freezing of increments and premiums and the compensation of overtime only with days off. The new ordinance complements the one for which the Executive assumed responsibility in the fall, with the aim of keeping the deficit under control. The unions have announced that they expect large-scale social protests.
To Schengen in stages
Bucharest is waiting for a precise calendar regarding Romania’s accession to the Schengen free movement area, starting with airports in March 2024, then with the land borders from the end of the same year. This, after Austria officially announced, this week, that it would agree for Romania and Bulgaria to enter Schengen, in an initial stage, only with air borders, although both have been meeting all the technical accession criteria demanded for many years. The Austrian Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Karner, wants, however, more progress in the field of protection of the external borders of the European Union. He also wants the Commission to allocate funds for the protection infrastructure of the Bulgarian-Turkish and Romanian-Serbian borders, but also for Romania and Bulgaria to take in asylum seekers, especially Afghans and Syrians. Sofia considers the conditions unacceptable, while Bucharest interprets them as a step forward, but which must be viewed with caution. The Schengen issue was not included on the agenda of the European Council this weekend, but the nuance of Austria’s position allowed discussions on the sidelines of the meeting in Brussels, at which Romania was represented by President Klaus Iohannis. He said that the negotiations remain very complicated, and that it is possible to organize an extraordinary Ministerial Council towards the end of this month, dedicated to the subject. Romania deserves full accession to the Schengen area, not a humiliating compromise, according to USR, in parliamentary opposition in Bucharest.
Major decision at the European Union summit
The leaders of the European Union states decided, in Brussels, to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, after they managed to convince Hungary not to oppose them. President Klaus Iohannis spoke about a historic decision that comes after the remarkable progress made by both states regarding the reforms requested by the European Commission. We support you, be brave, make the reforms, and together we move forward. – said the head of the Romanian State. Instead, the same EU leaders failed to persuade Budapest to lift its veto on a new €50 billion aid package for Ukraine over four years, starting next year. Also this week, in Sinaia, a Romanian resort in the Southern Carpathians, the international conference took place, called Reconstruction of Ukraine and the strategic role of Romania. The role of the Danube, challenges for freedom of navigation, energy security, food security, and critical infrastructure were discussed. In parallel, the Romanian authorities firmly condemned, once again, the Russian attacks against the civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and along the Danube, after another drone crashed out of control, this week, in the area of the Romanian town of Grindu, in the border area with Ukraine .
Superlative Romanian students
On Tuesday, the annual awards ceremony for international Olympians took place in Bucharest, and 138 students were rewarded. They obtained 164 medals, prizes and honorable mentions at 28 international Olympiads and regional competitions, as well as the teachers who trained them and the educational units where they study. The performance of the education system is a mandatory element for Romania to develop – declared, on this occasion, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.
