DOCUMENT The draft law on the reduction of public administration expenses by 10% has been published. What are the main provisions

The draft law, which is to reduce the expenses of the central and local public administration, was put, on Tuesday evening, in public debate by the Ministry of Development. The proposed law modifies several normative acts, with provisions that also refer to the way public institutions operate, traffic fines, taxes on buildings or gambling.

“The project provides (…) a 10% decrease in personnel expenses in the central public administration, without affecting the basic salaries of employees, through institutional reorganization, reduction of increments or job cuts. At the level of local authorities, a reduction of the positions from point 1 of the annex to GEO No. 63/2010 is foreseen, which will generate a 10% reduction in the positions occupied by the local public administration authorities as a whole”, he transmitted The Ministry of Development, in a press release.

Savings of 5.7 billion annually

In the statement of reasons for the draft law, it is said that the normative act is necessary in the conditions in which Romania has assumed a trajectory of reducing the budget deficit from 7.9% in 2024 to below 3% in 2031 based on assumptions related to public expenditures and their evolution in the period 2025-2031 which would determine an adjustment of 6 ppt, respectively a reduction from 41.9% of GDP to 35.9% of GDP in 2031.

“In 2026, on a temporary basis, local authorities can approve the reduction of personnel expenses in proportion to the expenses related to the number of occupied positions that should be abolished”, states the Ministry of Development.

According to estimates, the budget savings this year will be 3.367 billion lei, and in the years 2027-2030, the savings will be 5.765 billion lei.

In addition to spending cuts, the project aims to amend the Administrative Code, for example regarding the regime of public and private property of local administrations.

Limited mandates for senior officials

Also, a methodology is established for carrying out the evaluation process of the individual professional performances of civil servants based on competences.

Senior civil servants working in public authorities and institutions of the central public administration, including autonomous administrative authorities provided for by the Constitution or established by organic law, will have a limited mandate of 3 years, which can be renewed only once on the same position and within the same institution, after which they will be subject to mandatory rotation to other positions and at the end of a multi-year evaluation.

The normative act also provides for the reduction of the number of positions in the cabinet or chancellery of dignitaries or elected officials in the local administration. For example, for the prime minister, the number of positions in the prime minister's cabinet decreases from 9 to 5, and for the mayor of the Capital decreases from 6 to 4.

The National Agency for Cadastre and Real Estate Advertising and the National Agency for Housing will have the number of members on the board limited to 5, compared to 9 and 7 respectively at the moment. The maximum number of posts in prefectures will be reduced by 25%.

In order to increase the revenues of local administrations, the measure of increasing the tax by 100% for buildings erected without a construction permit, for a period of 5 years, was introduced.

“Local government authorities will be able to carry out inspections on the ground and through satellite images, drones and other technologies to identify unauthorized or undeclared buildings. The images can be used as evidence for fiscal and disciplinary sanctions, with the aim of improving control and identification of illegal or undeclared constructions,” the statement of reasons says.

Measures regarding traffic fines

Also, the period of suspension of the right to drive for misdemeanors can be reduced when the offender presents proof of payment of all debts to the local budget of the administrative-territorial unit where he resides, including the payment of the fine for the misdemeanor that led to the suspension of the right to drive, in order to encourage citizens to pay all their obligations to the local authorities.

On the other hand, rules are added regarding the increase of the amount of contravention fines in case of non-payment at the initial deadlines: a 30% increase if the fine is not paid within 3 months after the set deadline and another 30% increase if the non-payment continues after 6 months.

Drivers cannot drive motor vehicles, agricultural/forestry tractors or trams on public roads if they do not pay the debts arising from contravention fines within 90 days.

Gaming regulations

The number of local police officers that a municipality will be able to hire is determined according to the following criteria:
a) one post for every 1,200 inhabitants for communes, cities, municipalities, and sectors of Bucharest;
b) one post for every 6,500 inhabitants for the counties, respectively the municipality of Bucharest;
c) administrative-territorial units with less than 4,500 inhabitants cannot establish local police unless the expenses of the operating section are fully covered by their own revenues. In this case the number is a maximum of 3 local policemen.

The project also introduces regulations regarding the conduct of gambling. Thus, their operators will have to ask for the initial consent of the town halls within which they want to carry out their activity, and their authorization must be renewed annually.

“The decision of the local council introduces the express possibility of delimiting the areas in which these activities can be carried out and establishing the amount of the local tax due for obtaining the operating authorization, calculated according to the area of ​​the space where the activity is to be carried out”, states the ministry.