The Constitutional Court of Romania has postponed until October 8 the decision on the reform of judges’ pensions, a project for which the Government has assumed responsibility in Parliament.
Furthermore, three other notifications filed by the AUR, S.O.S. Romania, and POT parties regarding other laws in the package assumed by the Executive have also been postponed.
On the other hand, the challenge to the law on streamlining the activity of certain autonomous administrative authorities (referring to the project for the restructuring of ANCOM, ANRE, ASF) was unanimously rejected, as officially announced by the Constitutional Court of Romania.
The Constitutional Court was supposed to debate on Wednesday one of the most controversial reforms assumed by the government led by Ilie Bolojan. The challenge to the special pensions law for judges was filed by the High Court of Cassation and Justice (HCCJ).
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan indirectly conveyed that a negative decision could lead to his resignation:
"When you have an important project that is a milestone, if it does not pass, it is hard to assume that the Government still has the legitimacy to come up with other measures."
In turn, UDMR leader Kelemen Hunor stated that a potential rejection of the pension reform by the Constitutional Court would raise questions about the legitimacy of the current government.
The case is a sensitive one with major implications for the timeline of reforms assumed by Romania in front of its European partners. In the context of the ECOFIN meeting on October 10, where the progress on deficit reduction will be evaluated, a potential deadlock on the pension law could affect access to European funds.