THE WEEK IN REVIEW
No Romanian politician can contest the fact that the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience, which provides Romania with dozens of billions of Euro in return for essential reforms in many areas, is the guiding light of the government and ruling parties. Special pensions, provided mainly to magistrates and security services, including the armed forces, is not based on contributions, like the rest of pensions, and sorting out this issue is pivotal to the NPRR. A bill aimed at this was submitted on Wednesday by the ruling coalition to the Senate, which voted on it. According to the bill, no pension can exceed the salary during active years, and the portion of special pensions that is not based on contributions will be taxed. At the same time, pensions over 6,000 lei, about 1,200 Euro, will be taxed by 15%. In addition, special pensions cannot be collected in parallel, and five kinds of bonuses will be eliminated from military pensions. The opposition USR party criticized the bill, and supports a radical reform, that of eliminating special pensions altogether, and making them contribution based. At the same time, representatives of military personnel, police, and penitentiary employees called on military pensions to be eliminated from the NPRR, so that they are not subject to adjustments that would affect them negatively. They claim that this would motivate youth to opt for a military career.
Ştefan Stoica, 30.03.2023, 22:45
Special pensions are a sticking point for the government
No Romanian politician can contest the fact that the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience, which provides Romania with dozens of billions of Euro in return for essential reforms in many areas, is the guiding light of the government and ruling parties. Special pensions, provided mainly to magistrates and security services, including the armed forces, is not based on contributions, like the rest of pensions, and sorting out this issue is pivotal to the NPRR. A bill aimed at this was submitted on Wednesday by the ruling coalition to the Senate, which voted on it. According to the bill, no pension can exceed the salary during active years, and the portion of special pensions that is not based on contributions will be taxed. At the same time, pensions over 6,000 lei, about 1,200 Euro, will be taxed by 15%. In addition, special pensions cannot be collected in parallel, and five kinds of bonuses will be eliminated from military pensions. The opposition USR party criticized the bill, and supports a radical reform, that of eliminating special pensions altogether, and making them contribution based. At the same time, representatives of military personnel, police, and penitentiary employees called on military pensions to be eliminated from the NPRR, so that they are not subject to adjustments that would affect them negatively. They claim that this would motivate youth to opt for a military career.
Abuse of office under scrutiny
Senators in the ruling coalition voted on a bill to amend the Penal Code, setting the amount of damages produced by abuse of office to 250,000 lei, some 50,000 Euro, in order to result in criminal prosecution. This amendment resembles very closely the infamous Emergency Ordinance 13 of 2017, the first step in a process by which the Social Democrats, then ruled with an iron fist by Liviu Dragnea, tried to roll back previous efforts to reform the justice system. At that time, tens of thousands took to the streets in protest, and the ordinance was rescinded. On Wednesday, after the vote in the Senate, hundreds protested in Bucharest, claiming that the change would encourage corruption and illegal acts in the country. Facing this criticism, the coalition took a step back, and said they supported the proposal of the Justice minister, which sets the amount of damages produced by abuse of office at 9,000 lei. Just as the special pension bill, this change to the Penal Code goes to the Chamber of Deputies for debate if it is to become law.
Government passes new education laws
New laws on education were endorsed this week by the executive. As such, Romanian high schools are allowed to organize their own admission competitions in specialized subjects for 60% of their student slots, in addition to the National Evaluation. Also, the graduation exam, the baccalaureate, will have an additional exam, one that is not part of the student’s major. The laws are based on the Educated Romania project, introduced by President Klaus Iohannis, and 3 billion Euro will be allocated for these reforms, taken out of the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience. The laws applying to higher education are aimed at lowering the dropout rate, and at supporting European cooperation for Romanian universities. The lower education laws are aimed mainly at reducing school dropout rates, as well as functional illiteracy, which are chronic issues with Romanian education. Education Minister Ligia Deca said that the education system will be student centered, stimulating their potential.
The EC president and the PM of Poland visit Bucharest
Romania’s failure to join the Schengen space, the free circulation area in Europe, due to opposition from Austria, generated frustration in the country, and encouraged Euroskeptics. This was the statement from President Klaus Iohannis, after the talks he held in Bucharest with EC President Charles Michel. The latter had an encouraging message. He provided assurance that there is European support for Romania entering the Schengen space of a speedy manner. The European official said that he was convinced that the EU would be safer if Romania was in the Schengen space, and that it was clear to him that Romania had met all obligations needed to join. Also this week, Bucharest was visited by the Polish PM, Mateusz Morawiecki. The parties want for the close bilateral ties in security and defense would be mirrored by robust and productive economic cooperation, up to the potential of the two economies. Poland is one of the main trading partners in the region, with bilateral trade amounting to a record level of almost 11 billion Euro.
High hopes for football and certainties in handball
The Romanian national football squad overcame Andorra and Belarus at the start of the Euro 2024 preliminaries, sparking new hopes for supporters. Romania’s group is dominated by Switzerland, which made it to the last world cup, but there are chances for the Romanians to take second place if they defeat Kosovo and Israel, securing a place in the European tournament. 2016 was the last year when the national team took part in the final rounds of the competition. In handball, national champion Rapid defeated the Slovenian team Krim, and as such, for the first time, they will attend the quarter finals of the League of Champions. National vice-champions CSM Bucharest have already made it to that stage. With two teams in this stage, Romanian women’s handball proves once again its value.
