Romanian Statistics Institute’s spokesman dismissed after census confusion

A confusion related to whether Romanians have to declare their people’s personal numeric code (CNP) or not during the ongoing census in the country has triggered reactions from the media and caused a first dismissal at the Statistics Institute. Vladimir Alexandrescu, the National Statistics Institute (INS) spokesman, has been recently dismissed after saying it was not mandatory to declare the personal numeric number (CNP). The INS head, Vergil Voineagu, said Wednesday this week that the CNP must be declared. The census operators will return to the people that didn’t declare their CNP and those who refuse to declare it will be fined. However, the Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc warned Vergil Voigneagu that he will also be replaced from the position if he will not fix as soon as possible the communication issues. The obligation to declare the personal numeric code has caused confidentiality concerns, as census operators could copy the personal data and supply it to political parties which could fraud the elections, commentators have warned. The 2011 census carried out in Romania is the first one after the country joined the European Union. The census will take place until October 31 and has a budget of EUR 45 million. In the first six days of the census, between October 20 and October 25, 4.9 million homes were reviewed, 56.7 percent of the total, and a number of 11 million people, according to INS. This year’s census also includes a component that is relevant for certain segments of the expat community, according to a statement from the British Embassy in Bucharest. The Romanian census operators will record people with foreign citizenship who have permanent or temporary residence in Romania, but they will not record data on individuals with foreign citizenship employed by diplomatic missions and consulates or by international organizations. Members of personnel of foreign armies, commercial naval and air fleet, and press correspondents located in the country who are in Romania at the time of the census will also not be recorded. The first data from this census will be revealed in January 2012. Data from April 2013 will also include the number of foreign citizens in Romania, as well as data on Romanians who left to work abroad. Final data will be released in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to the INS. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (photo source: Sxc.hu)