The GEO regarding the fuel crisis enters the Government meeting today, despite the negative opinion of the CES
The government announced that the GEO regarding the fuel crisis will be adopted on Thursday, after the Economic and Social Council (CES) issued an unfavorable opinion, warning that the measures will reduce the price by no more than 50 bani/liter, a decrease considered “totally insignificant”.
The Executive meeting is scheduled today from 11.00 am. A new set of measures would be announced next week.
The adoption of the project has been successively postponed in the last 48 hours: Tuesday's meeting was suspended pending the opinion, and on Wednesday the CES officially submitted a 13-page document rejecting the proposed measures.
What Bolojan says
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan stated that “serious” work is being done on support measures, specifying that the state assumes its share of responsibility.
“The additional revenues obtained from the VAT, as a result of fuel price increases, will not remain in the budget, but will be introduced in a financing scheme that mitigates the impact of price increases,” said Bolojan.
In order to support the critical sectors, the Government extended the support schemes, the financial impact being over 1 billion lei. In the case of transporters, it was decided to increase the amounts granted in the form of reimbursement of part of the excise duty.
The executive specified that, once the budget is approved, payment flows will be ensured “so as to recover the settlement delays reported by employers' organizations”.
CES criticism
The Economic and Social Council warns that capping the commercial addition represents a major intervention in economic mechanisms. Although mandatory in the legislative process, the CES opinion has only an advisory role, allowing the Government to adopt the normative act despite unfavorable conclusions.
According to the CES, the measures “will result in a maximum reduction of 50 banis per liter of fuel, totally insignificant at prices above 10 lei/liter and will not succeed in stopping the further increase in prices”.
Previous experience has shown that “ceilings lead to significant dysfunctions and even price increases for other products, ultimately affecting the very consumers the state claims to protect.”
Consultations with employers
In preparation for today's Government meeting, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan convened the Tripartite National Council on Wednesday, March 25, to discuss intervention measures on the fuel market.
The Head of the Executive emphasized that the package of governmental measures has as its fundamental principles the sharing of costs between the Government, the private sector and citizens, as well as the adoption of intervention solutions that generate minimal collateral effects in the market, being transparent and easy to apply.
However, the dialogue at the Victoria Palace was marked by a deadlock, after the meeting took place without the presence of union representatives, who refused to participate, accusing the Executive of a lack of transparency.
Thus, the prime minister consulted only with employers. They showed their openness to collaborate with the authorities to finalize the package of measures and the application rules, emphasizing, however, the importance of a consultation process as extensive as possible to ensure the responsible behavior of all market actors.
