Acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan stated on Thursday, in a briefing, that the Government intends to finalize by next week six legislative projects to unlock some milestones in the PNRR, so that Romania does not lose the related tranches of European funds. There are six basic projects and three more secondary projects, which we intend to finalize by next week.
This means that discussions with representatives of the European Commission will be concluded on each field, so that what we send to Parliament for debate has the Commissions opinion, we will inform the parliamentary groups, group leaders, party leaders, so that they have access to these projects in time, so that they can study them, said Bolojan. In this regard, the interim Prime Minister announced that he will request the leadership of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate to convene extraordinary sessions in the second half of this month, so that the projects can be debated and adopted. They are very important because each project has a value of at least 770 million euros, and the maximum value is 970 million euros, explained Bolojan.
What do the six legislative projects related to the milestones in the PNRR aim at? The interim prime minister presented the six legislative projects that must reach Parliament and be adopted, in order to collect the corresponding tranches of European money. The first project aims at the new law on the salaries of personnel paid from public funds.
According to Bolojan, the main topic discussed with representatives of the European Commission is maintaining personnel expenses within the assumed limits. The main aspect being negotiated with the representatives of the European Commission is that this project, once approved, should increase the salary envelope, therefore the total salary fund, with a value that would keep the current share of personnel expenses in percentages at the current level, therefore a maximum of 8. 1% of GDP and, also, under the conditions in which this increase is made at the maximum level, to identify other solutions related to reducing expenses or increasing revenues to the state budget, explained Bolojan.
The second project concerns legislative amendments in the field of integrity and the incompatibilities regime. The Prime Minister said that the project was finalized by the Ministry of Justice and the National Integrity Agency and was sent to political parties and leaders of parliamentary groups for consultation, with a new round of discussions to be held with representatives of the European Commission next week. The third project aims to introduce a bonus-malus mechanism for ANAF, Ministry of Finance and anti-fraud structures staff, intended to stimulate the collection of budget revenues and combat tax evasion.
Also included in the legislative package is the amendment to the Administrative Code, which concerns the career of civil servants, competition and promotion procedures. It is about regulations regarding the career of civil servants, competitions, how to advance in such a way as to ensure that we have fair competitions and professional people are advanced, it is a project managed by the Ministry of Development and ANFP. This is to be promoted next week, explained Bolojan.
The Urban Planning Code and the decarbonization project Among the projects considered a priority is the Urban Planning Code, which has been under debate in the Chamber of Deputies since the end of last year. According to the Prime Minister, the regulatory act requires clarifications regarding the relationship between the Capital City Hall and the district mayoralties, including in the context of the referendum on urban planning competencies. If these discussions are finalized next week, the project can go to the final vote immediately in the Chamber of Deputies, said Bolojan.
Another important project is the one related to decarbonization in the heating and cooling sector, debated in the Senate the other day. The project was discussed in the Senate the other day and was three votes short of being adopted. The project will be resubmitted to the Chamber of Deputies in such a way that it re-enters the circuit and we will seek to communicate through representatives of the Ministry of Energy, which is the responsible ministry, and those of the Environment with representatives of parliamentary groups to clarify all aspects related to this project, concluded the interim prime minister.