January 19-25

A look at the main headline-making events this past week

Daniela Budu, 25.01.2025, 14:00

Deficit

Romania’s plan to reduce the budget deficit was approved on Tuesday by the European Finance Ministers, along with the finance ministers of seven other states for which the European Commission opened the special procedure for excessive budget deficit. Romania’s fiscal budget plan aims to stabilize the public debt and reduce the deficit below 3% of the GDP in the period 2025-2031. Romanian Minister Tánczos Barna stated that reducing the deficit over a period of seven years, instead of four, will allow the economy to maintain an adequate level of public investments. It is, at the same time, the minister claims, a premise for avoiding imbalances and sustainable economic growth. On the sidelines of the Council in Brussels, Commissioner Valdis Dombrolskis had a separate meeting with the Romanian Minister of Finance to discuss the details of the plan. Tánczos Barna says that in the next seven years, Romania will receive financial and technical support to restore the macroeconomic balance. The parameters indicated by the European Commission aim, as a whole, to keep public expenses under control and ensure economic growth through investments.

Parliament Reorganization

The President of the Romanian Senate, Ilie Bolojan, announced on Wednesday that the Senate posts would be reduced from almost 800 to just over 600, and the car fleet of the legislative forum and the fuel quota would also be reduced. Bolojan has given assurances that the process will be fair and transparent, with the aim of ensuring a more efficient activity and reducing costs. Senate staff and union representatives criticize the approach, and several employees protested spontaneously, right during the announcement. The trade union federations have denounced what they call the “abusive and opaque method” through which restructuring measures are adopted and communicated and claim that the reorganization of the institution is “lacking transparency and fairness”.

The Liberal leader has also announced the reorganization of the Chamber of Deputies and the reduction of the number of secretaries of state. Here, more than 200 positions will eliminated out of around 1,100, confirmed the president of the Chamber, Ciprian Şerban. Energy efficiency measures, such as reducing the lighting of the building, are also being considered. The reorganization plan will be finalized next week. The announcements related to the reorganization of central public institutions and state companies come in the conditions where the Bucharest Government is trying to reduce the budget deficit, including public spending. From the opposition, the Save Romania Union requests the leaders of the governing coalition to publicly present the complete list of institutes and agencies that they will abolish or merge, as well as the criteria for selecting employees.

Presidential Elections

In Bucharest, the central board of the Social Democratic Party(PSD) validated on Tuesday the former Liberal leader Crin Antonescu as the joint candidate of the governing coalition PSD-PNL-UDMR for the presidential elections in May. The decision made by the Social Democrats comes after the analysis of the sociological studies carried out in the last two weeks regarding the Romanians’ voting intentions in the presidential election. Also on Tuesday, the date of the party’s extraordinary congress was set, on February 2, when the former Liberal leader’s candidacy will be fully validated. The National Liberal Party (PNL) is going to validate Crin Antonescu’s candidacy on Sunday, at the meeting of the National Political Council, and the UDMR will present its decision early next week. The presidential elections are scheduled for May 4 and 18. At the beginning of the week, the Permanent Electoral Authority in Bucharest announced that the parties can start collecting signatures for the candidates they support in the May presidential elections. Signatures can only be collected in physical form, and one voter can support several candidates.

INSCOP Survey

An INSCOP survey, published on Tuesday, shows that 90% of Romanians reject the idea of leaving NATO, a record level of adherence to the North Atlantic Organization. According to the research, based on data collected at the end of last year, in the last three years there has been a 10% increase in Romanians’ adherence to the Western direction from the point of view of political and military alliances. The survey also shows that Romania’s membership in the European Union is seen as an advantage in terms of the implications on economic and social life, on family and personal life, by almost three quarters of the respondents. Three years ago, only 55% of Romanians believed this. At the same time, 88 percent believe that Romania should remain in the EU, and 78% that the country’s economic future depends on its EU membership. Three years ago, a quarter of the population said that Romania would be better off leaving the Union. Finally, the research also shows, more than half of Romanians believe that the country should put national interests first, even if this means violating EU rules.

George Enescu Festival

The program of this year’s George Enescu International Festival was published, and on Tuesday the subscriptions for this event went on sale. The 27th edition of the Festival will mark 70 years since the death of the great Romanian composer. Approximately 4,000 Romanian and international artists, 80 orchestras and musical groups from 28 countries have already announced their presence, which will bring to the fore both the artistic legacy of George Enescu, and his impact on universal classical music. This anniversary edition will have an original program, which will attract the traditional music-loving public, but also the young, with almost 100 concerts and shows, grouped into seven large series, for all categories of classical music lovers. The festival will take place between August 24 and September 21, 2025, under the high patronage of the President of Romania. (MI)