Romanian government approves public administration reform, economic stimulus package

A government ordinance that downsizes the personnel and the personnel expenditures across the entire public administration at the central and local levels, but also decentralises and simplifies operations of the public administration and instates unified evaluation procedures for the public servants, was approved by the government of Romania on Tuesday, February 24, after months of negotiations among the members of the ruling coalition. Separately, an “economic relaunch” package including financial guarantee schemes, accelerated amortisation, allowances for reinvested earnings, and a milder regime for small firms, was also approved.

The endorsement of the two ordinances gives an important political message about the ruling coalition’s capacity to reach an agreement. The final form includes compromises and possibly loopholes for the incumbent local administration, but it is a significant step ahead in terms of budgetary impact and more rational use of the human and financial resources across the public administration.