Romania could save the 231 million euros from the PNRR: EC analyzes Romania's arguments regarding magistrates' pensions
The European Commission has agreed to consider Romania's arguments regarding magistrates' pensions, according to the Minister of European Funds, Dragoș Pîslaru.
Dragoș Pîslaru, Minister of European Funds PHOTO: Facebook
Romania presented a situation to the European Commission “very well placed legally”that he carried out the reform of magistrates' pensions before the set deadline, namely November 28, 2025, and that he accepted to consider the arguments in a constructive spirit, stated, on Tuesday evening, the Minister of Investments and European Projects, Dragoş Pîslaru, at the hearings of the assembled budget-finance committees, writes Agerpres.
“As a minister, I am obliged in front of the Parliament to tell you how we are doing. The idea is that we currently have a situation as follows: Romania presented a very well-founded legal situation that the Government's efforts were fulfilled before the deadline of November 28, that is, we sent the proposal, and that all the subsequent part was procedural – that the CSM returned to us, that we had the High Court that appealed to the CCR – so, we came up with a legal argument that everything we did was before the deadline of the 28th. The European Commission initially did not want to hear anything that it happened after 28. After the visit I made together with the prime minister and we met with Mrs. von der Leyen and we discussed the importance of this reform and how it is received in society, the European Commission accepted, attention, for now – and this is what I can tell you now – to consider Romania's arguments in a constructive spirit. This does not mean from what I am telling you now that they will give us all the money or that they will give us part of the money or that they will not give any money. But what I told you now reflects exactly, accurately, the situation we are in: that until the visit we had in Brussels, there was no question of touching the money, and now the question is that they analyze in a constructive spirit the legal arguments that we brought“, explained the minister.
Asked when we will have an answer from the European Commission, the Head of Investments replied: “Until the end of March”.
“We already have a small delay, because the Commission is waiting… What the Commission is doing is this: considering that request 3 is a complicated request, it will make a payment junction between requests 3 and 4. And as we on request 4 have to provide proof that the budget was adopted and proof that we have solved the decarbonization problem, at that moment, practically, we have the cumulative approval of the two, but somewhere we work on the assumption that before the end in March we will have an answer”, he added.
The Minister of Investments and European Projects, Dragoş Pîslaru, announced on his Facebook page, in mid-February, that he will have discussions with European officials, after the reform of magistrates' pensions was declared constitutional and, after the promulgation of the law by President Nicusor Dan, he will request the European Commission to reanalyze payment request 3 from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
“Justice was done: the CCR declared the cutting of the special pensions of magistrates constitutional.(…) The referral to the High Court of Cassation and Justice was rejected by the Constitutional Court with 6 votes out of 9. It is a major change in one of the most sensitive reform chapters and a turning point in the discussion about equity and sustainability in the pension system in Romania. In the next few hours I will have discussions with European officials regarding this evolution of the approval of the law by the CCR. With the promulgation by President Nicusor Dan, we will finally be able to demonstrate the fulfillment of the reform undertaken by Romania within the PNRR. This is followed by the official transmission of this evidence to the European Commission, for which we will request the reanalysis of payment request no. 3. Even in the context of the regrettable delay of over two months after the deadline of November 28, I will make all diplomatic efforts, formal and informal, to try to save the situation of the milestone of special pensions and the 231 million euros, non-refundable European money”the minister noted on February 18.
