Grindeanu, face to face with Prime Minister Bolojan, after calling him to Parliament for explanations
The leaders of the coalition meet again, on Tuesday at 14:00, for the first time after the PSD group called Ilie Bolojan to the Parliament to give explanations after the withdrawal of American soldiers from Romania. On the agenda of the discussions are the reform of magistrates' pensions, the increase or freezing of the minimum wage, the reform of public administration and the UDMR's proposal to reduce the number of parliamentarians by 10%.
At the last two meetings of the coalition, Sorin Grindeanu requested the formation of a working group in which the representatives of the magistrates would be part. The proposal was, however, rejected twice by the other leaders.
The group, as Grindeanu explains, aims to dialogue with the magistrates, to come up with a law that the coalition can accept or not, “because it is a political decision”.
“I think that tomorrow, if not today, it will be two weeks since the CCR's decision to reject that law, and for two weeks we have been moving forward. Instead, the deadline of November 28 remains,” said Sorin Grindeanu on Monday, at the Parliament.
In today's meeting, Sorin Grindeanu will propose the same thing again.
November 28 is the deadline imposed by the European Commission by which the reform of magistrates' pensions must be adopted. Government officials tried to extend the deadline, but failed.
While Grindeanu proposes the working group, Ilie Bolojan is waiting for the reasons for the CCR's decision.
Bolojan, willing to negotiate the transition period
The president of the Senate, Mircea Abrudean (PNL), close to Ilie Bolojan, said on Monday that from a discussion he had a few days ago with the prime minister, it emerged that he is willing to negotiate the transition period, but not the amount of the pension.
“From the discussions I had with the prime minister, I understood that there is flexibility during the transition period, to exceed the 10 years. Regarding the amount, I understood that there is no,” said Abrudean.
In response, Sorin Grindeanu declared himself upset by the fact that the prime minister agrees with the negotiation of the provisions of the law.
“We no longer go by the fact that we must not negotiate, that we do not negotiate pensions, that there are no other categories? We no longer go by this idea? It is no longer valid? I am at least opposed at this moment,” said the PSD president, referring to the meeting he had with the representatives of the magistrates for which he was criticized.
The law declared unconstitutional by the CCR stipulated that the magistrates' pension could not be higher than 70% of the last net salary received, compared to 80% of the last gross salary received, as it is now.
The normative act also provided for the establishment of the retirement age for magistrates at the standard age of the public pension system, namely 65 years. Now, magistrates can retire if they have 25 years of service, and in the Bolojan law the provision was that in order to retire, magistrates must have 35 years of service.
Local government reform, still unresolved
Discussions on job cuts in local and central government began in August. Since then, coalition leaders have been unable to agree. Bolojan demanded the reduction of 13,000 positions in local administration. The PSD did not agree with the layoffs and demanded that the mayors have a choice between job cuts and spending cuts.
The social democrats also demanded that the reduction of the apparatus in the local administration be done together with the reductions in the central administration.
In last week's meeting, coalition leaders agreed on a 10% cut in central government. And Cseke Atilla, the Minister of Development should present today how the reform can be done from the center.
Reducing the number of MPs – three different projects
On Monday, the Senate silently passed a USR bill on reducing the number of parliamentarians to 300. The project now goes to the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making body.
The UDMR and the National Minorities threatened, two weeks ago, to break the coalition if the project eliminating 164 parliamentary positions is adopted.
Then, last week, UDMR representatives proposed a 10% reduction in the number of deputies and senators, and the leaders reached an agreement in principle. The proposal will be discussed again in today's meeting.
On Monday, at the Parliament, the president of the Senate, the liberal Mircea Abrudean, recalled the consensus in the coalition and said that the project submitted by USR has some problems from a legal point of view:
“The 10% reduction in the number of parliamentarians was somewhat agreed, indeed, the form proposed by the colleagues from the USR, which I think has some deficiencies from a legal point of view, passes to the Senate silently.”
Sorin Grindeanu also said yesterday that the PSD supports the reduction of the number of parliamentarians, but also the reintroduction of unanimous voting: “We have a referendum in Romania, held 15 years ago if I'm not mistaken, which is waiting to be put into practice. We support 300 parliamentarians, but we have a note, we would like it to be unanimous voting”, said Grindeanu.
In one of the coalition meetings, Prime Minister Bolojan requested that a law on reducing the number of parliamentarians be drafted and signed by all governing parties.
The minimum wage – reason for opposition in the coalition
The Social Democrats are calling for the minimum wage to rise, while Prime Minister Bolojan says it most likely won't happen.
Sorin Grindeanu has stated several times that, if Romania does not increase the minimum wage, we will enter the infringement procedure. The final decision was postponed until November at the end of October.
Sorin Grindeanu, on the increase of the minimum wage: “People should be paid according to their work and according to EU rules”
“I am waiting for the Minister of Finance to come with a report. The labor commissioner, Mrs. Roxana Mînzatu, must also send an information related to what it means not to increase the minimum wage. Whether or not we are in violation. We may be in violation, because we committed to some things in the European Union,” said Grindeanu on October 30.
Although the social democrats say they oppose freezing the minimum wage, Ilie Bolojan said in an interview with CNN's Antena3 that all the leaders of the coalition agreed on the freeze:
“I'm not saying that the minimum wage in Romania is likely to ensure special comfort. But it has some effects. We discussed in the coalition and by mutual agreement, I emphasize, we all agreed to try to keep the minimum wage at the same level, if the wages are capped”, declared the head of the government.
At the end of the Government meeting on October 16, the Government spokeswoman stated that she had discussed the minimum wage with Prime Minister Bolojan:
“The subject is under analysis by the prime minister. When I asked him, he answered “in principle, the minimum wage will not increase”, said Dogioiu.
A new conflict in the coalition. PSD guarantees that the minimum wage will increase, the Government spokeswoman contradicts them / Harsh response from the party led by Grindeanu
On October 29, the prime minister met with employers and unions to discuss the minimum wage.
Ilie Bolojan told them that raising the minimum wage would lead to increases in a whole series of incomes, the amount of which is determined according to this wage.
“A possible increase in the gross minimum wage, next year, will generate cascading increases in many wages, because more than 40 normative acts and budgetary mechanisms are linked to the gross minimum wage, which, in turn, will lead to a cascading increase in collateral budgetary expenses: contributions, allowances, grids, increments, caps and allowances,” said the Prime Minister, according to a Government statement.
Bolojan also recalled that labor productivity in Romania increased by 5% this year, below the level of wage growth, of 9%, a situation that is reflected in inflation, a phenomenon that affects those with low incomes.
