Broad political agreement on Romania’s new Urban Planning Code reportedly reached

The representatives of the pro-Western parties in Romania reportedly agreed on the new Urban Planning Code upon consultations mediated by the Presidency on July 16. Passing the bill is a milestone under the National Relaunch and Resilience Plan (PNRR) with a EUR 1.1 billion grant attached and must be done in parliament by the end of August.

The reported agreement marks one of the first signs of cross-party cooperation since the political crisis deepened following the collapse of the governing coalition. However, negotiations continue on several other politically sensitive PNRR reforms, including the new public sector Wage Law and amendments to integrity legislation, where consensus remains more difficult to achieve.

The new Urban Planning Code will include the result of the referendum in the Romanian capital city Bucharest on the issuance of construction permits by the General City Hall (as opposed to District City Halls currently), agreed in principle by the participants in the discussion convened by president Nicușor Dan with representatives of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Liberal Party (PNL), Save Romania Union (USR), and the Hungarians’ party UDMR. The participants also agreed that green spaces will not have special regulations in this Code, and also the law on beaches will remain independent, USR deputy Radu Mihaiu told Profit.ro.

All changes have been agreed in principle, and after discussing them with the European Commission, these amendments will be sent and discussed in Parliament, Mihaiu also said.

Sent by the government for adoption to Parliament two years ago, the draft law on the Code of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and Constructions must be adopted so that it enters into force by the date of completion of the PNRR, namely by August 31.

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