Govt. asks ministers to pay more attention to legislation initiatives after VAT drop voting error

Two days after the VAT drop for basic products was mistakenly voted in the Romanian Parliament by the ruling party Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), including some of the ministers, the Government has asked the ministers to pay more attention to legislative initiatives. State secretaries will also be required to attend the parliamentary commission meetings where law projects related to their ministry will be debated, according to Mediafax newswire. The recent voting error in the Parliament triggered the green light to a law which reduced the VAT for basic food products from 24 to 5 percent and the tax exemption of pensions below RON 2,000. The two measures were proposed by the opposition parties and were also voted by the ruling party members of the Parliament, although they had previously rejected it in the specialized commission meetings. PDL members blamed it on a 'communication error', which could be addressed either by the President, which could send the law back to the Parliament, or by the Government, amending the law once it will be ready to be enforced. The PDL members said they didn't know what they voted. Further insight into the issue has revealed that PDL members were voting based on the signal given by the PDL MP group leader. The VAT drop would trigger a 17 percent decrease in VAT collection at a time when Romania is trying to increase its budget revenues. editor@romania-insider.com