The local administration reform, promoted by the Government led by Ilie Bolojan, risks being compromised even before it takes effect.
The Social Democratic mayor of Galați, Ionuț Pucheanu, claims that mayors have a legal mechanism at their disposal to avoid reducing positions in the public sector.
In an intervention on Digi24, Pucheanu explained that municipalities can establish commercial companies under the authority of the Local Council and transfer the employees targeted for cuts there, without actually reducing expenses.
"I believe that the administrative reform should have been more profound. We are only wiping the surface of this abscess called central and local public administration. I tell you that the measure itself will not achieve its goal, because at the level of local councils, you have the legal possibility to evade this measure by creating a commercial company under the council's authority. Not only do you move some people from one place to another, but overall, the actual cost increases," stated the mayor of Galați.
According to him, the solution proposed by the Government does not structurally address the issue of the oversized apparatus, but simply shifts the pressure from one administrative area to another.
What does the administration reform adopted by the Government entail
The Government adopted on Tuesday a package of administrative and economic reform, which includes tough measures to reduce public spending. Among these are:
- approximately 13,000 layoffs in the public administration;
- reduction of budgets for public institutions;
- limiting the number of positions based on the size of the administrative-territorial units;
- reorganization of the central and local apparatus;
- increasing some fines and eliminating certain benefits;
- tax incentives for companies, within the economic recovery package.
The Executive argues that the measures are necessary to streamline the state apparatus and reduce the budget deficit. Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan spoke about "budget discipline" and the need for a lean administrative apparatus, adapted to financial realities.