Romanian president tackles fiscal plan, PNRR with EC head von der Leyen in Brussels

The first fiscal corrective package of the seven-year fiscal plan would be endorsed in an extraordinary session of the Parliament by the end of July, Romania's president Nicusor Dan said in Brussels after meeting European Commission's president Ursula von der Leyen.

"As we agreed before the formation of the government, they [the first fiscal measures] must be transposed into normative acts, and the government's assumption is that we will have a first set of normative acts that will pass Parliament in an extraordinary session by the end of July, some of them to be applied starting August 1, some of them starting January 1 next year," president Dan said, quoted by News.ro.

Separately, the government has drafted in its first meeting on June 23 a draft law empowering it to issue ordinances (OG) during the Parliament's summer recess. Just like the emergency ordinances (OUG), the OG produces effects from the date they are published in the Official Journal, therefore they don't need immediate approval by Parliament for becoming effective. However, the lawmakers are requested to turn the ordinances into laws, a process that, in principle, may result in their amendment or rejection.

President Nicuşor Dan stated that during the meeting he had with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, he discussed the reduction of Romania's budget deficit and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), emphasizing that the discussion is to be continued by the technical teams of Romania and the European Commission.

Romania is expected to come up with an updated fiscal plan by the July 8 ECOFIN meeting in order to avoid sanctions under the Excessive Deficit Procedure.

"We had a principled discussion on the two topics that concern us, namely the deficit and the measures to reduce the deficit and the PNRR and how to optimize the money we have available until August next year. This was the discussion that will be continued by the technical teams," said Nicuşor Dan.

Romania risks losing 27% of the EUR 28.5 billion funding (grants and loans) extended from the EU budget under the Resilience Facility, according to estimates confirmed by minister of investments and European funds Dragos Pislaru.

(Photo source: Presidency.ro)