End-of-year Government measures

In its last session this year, the Government led by Dacian CIolos has taken a series of important measures.

Corina Cristea, 30.12.2016, 12:32

In its last session scheduled for this year, the technocratic Government in Bucharest on Thursday adopted an action plan for Romanias taking over the presidency of the EU Council in 2019. The document provides for a first assessment of necessary resources and recommends a series of technical measures to be implemented over the course of the next two years. In a Government press release, Romanias term at the helm of the EU is a strategic objective of national importance. For the first time, Bucharest can show political vision and administrative capacity, which are necessary to manage, in a professional manner, this important responsibility that each Member State has to fulfill on a rotation basis. In another move, the Government decided to maintain the national minimum wage at 275 euros for the month of January as well. Here is Government spokesperson Liviu Iolu:

“The national minimum wage guaranteed by the Government for 2017 will be set by the new Government. Our Government decided to keep the wage at its current value for January, given that it is the remit of the new Government to set a new minimum wage salary for next year.

The Government also adopted a set of measures to extend its support for the victims of the fire of October 2015 at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest, which killed 64 people. The support consists in covering treatment expenses, as well as accommodation and transport of members of their family. In addition, the Government set up a mechanism of returning the subscriptions paid by people to purchase Constantin Brancusi sculpture The Wisdom of the Earth, which the Government tried to acquire from the sculptors legal heirs by means of a public subscription campaign. Public donations eventually turned out to be insufficient, and will be returned to the over 100,000 donors.

For all donations in hard currency, the Government will cover the commission and exchange rate fees, while all donations in national currency will be refunded by means of payment order. Donations by text or local landline phones will be settled under an agreement signed by the Ministry of Culture with telecommunications operators. Donors who cannot be identified can submit a refund request in writing to the Ministry of Culture by October 31, 2017, also attaching copies of payment documentation. Moreover, people who dont want a refund must also notify the Ministry of Culture in writing by the end of March 2017. The process of refunding all donations will be completed by December 31, 2017.

(Translated by V. Palcu)