Talks on forming new government continue in Romania

The technical committee formed by the political parties “that could form the future governing coalition” in Romania continues negotiations after one week, presidential advisor Radu Burnete announced on June 9 in a Facebook post – at the time when the parties were supposed to announce a first draft of the agreement.

The delay and the direction of the negotiations, as surfaced in the media, are not boding well for the final outcome, despite Burnete’s optimistic rhetoric. Fighting tax evasion and cutting unnecessary expenses have not been on the top of the agenda, according to media reports.

The talks are “serious and concrete,” and that’s why the results are not ready yet, Burnete assured, as reported by Agerpres.

Hiking taxes remains only a solution of last resort after reducing state spending, waste is eliminated, and the efficiency of revenue collection improves, the presidential advisor stated – reiterating the principles indicated by president Nicusor Dan.

Negotiations between parties will continue on June 10 with the participation of political leaders in order to materialize a clearer set of measures to reduce the deficit, according to the presidential advisor.

However, the multitude of conflicting ideas launched by leaders of the parties engaged in the negotiations, and the raw form of these ideas(no quantitative impact estimated) stand for the complex task of streamlining the structure of public spending that has developed over the past three decades.

The details of the negotiations have been dominated by a proposal of unknown origin for a special fee charged for each financial transaction – including the disbursement of wages to purchases by card in retail shops. However unrealistic it seems (for the lack of economic logic), the proposal was taken seriously even by central bank officials who warned of the negative impact on the already weak financial intermediation. The idea was attributed to presidential advisor Dragos Anastasiu, who denies paternity.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos / George Călin)