Romanian govt. to legislate public administration and economic relaunch laws by emergency ordinances

The government of Romania will legislate the public administration law and the economic relaunch package as emergency ordinances (OUG) next week or even on Friday, February 13, according to sources familiar with the process consulted by Adevarul and Digi24. The process is not expected to undergo smooth enactment, given the protests of village mayors and Social Democrat leader Sorin Grindeanu, who stated that the law would be promoted only “under the right conditions.”

Initially, prime minister Ilie Bolojan announced that both acts would be promoted under accelerated procedure in parliament. However, a no-confidence motion filed by the opposition would prevent the publication of the bills in the Official Journal.

The emergency ordinances are preferred not because the no-confidence motion would pose any threat, but to have the two bills – necessary for the construction of the 2026 budget plan – enforced quickly, the head of the Hungarian party UDMR, Kelemen Hunor, explained, according to Adevarul.

However, the emergency ordinance procedure may pose complications as well: in principle, the bill may be significantly amended when discussed in Parliament to turn it into a law.

PM Ilie Bolojan announced plans to submit the 2026 budget plan to Parliament by February 19, when the European Commission also expects to see the Romanian executive’s plans for this year before the Winter Forecast is published.

Romania’s government envisages a deficit of 6.%-6.2% for this year, and foreign analysts consider a deficit of under 6% feasible. Abundant funding from the European Union under the Resilience Facility (RRF) and Cohesion scheme smooths the executive’s mission this year.

On the other hand, social pressures (public wages and pensions are supposed to remain constant for a second consecutive year) and lack of political coherence within the ruling coalition (the Social Democrats adopted populist rhetoric) are putting at risk the budget execution and even the budget planning.

(Photo source: Gov.ro)