The Constitutional Court of Romania has decided that the law
amending the ordinance on the salaries of public sector employees is
constitutional, thus ruling against the notifications filed by the National
Liberal Party and the Government. The decision is final and binding. The
Government and 65 Liberal MPs have questioned the constitutionality of the law
on the salaries of public sector employees. On November 7th, the
Chamber of Deputies passed an emergency ordinance, subsequently
amended by advisory committees, providing for an average 15% salary increase in
the education and healthcare sectors.
On November 8th, Prime
Minister Dacian Ciolos said the Government would challenge the law at the
Constitutional Court, claiming the amendments had been passed for purely
populist reasons, with the aim of attracting more votes ahead of the elections,
and drawn up without any due analysis or public debate. Dacian Ciolos said the
law risked preventing any future Government from adopting a law on a single
salary scheme, which should solve the inequities existing in the public sector.
The Prime Minister went on to say that MPs clearly knew about the Law on fiscal
and budget accountability, according to which no legislation on salary
increases can be passed six months ahead of any scheduled parliamentary
elections. According to Dacian Ciolos,
the law clearly stipulates that public institutions are forbidden from
passing such laws, and Parliament is a public institution.
Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis has already decided to sign the
bill into law. Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the Social-Democratic Party, which
won the parliamentary elections by a large margin and spearheaded this law
despite Government opposition, has voiced readiness to apply the new measures regarding salary increases
as of January 1. Dragnea has stated that the Social-Democratic Party had taken
into account these increases when drafting the budget presented during the election
campaign, just like it did with the increase in the gross minimum salary to
1,450 lei, also starting January 1, 2017.
The former campaign manager of the
National Liberal Party, Gheorghe Falca, referring to the Court’s decision to
rule against the Liberals’ notification, has stated that he is always happy
when salaries in the administration go up, adding however that he still
expects a single salary law that should deal away with the inequities in the
system, along with a gradual increase in salaries in the local and central
public administration, reflecting Romania’s economic growth. In turn, Labour
Minister Dragos Pislaru, who originally opposed the measures, commented on the
Court’s decision, saying that resources are limited and someone will have to
foot the bill, either other categories of public sector employees or everyone
else.