The Foundation for the Defense of the Citizens Against State Abuses (FACIAS) recently wrote to the European Commission to find out the consequences of the fact that the Romanian state has not yet resolved the situation of special pensions according to the conditions agreed in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). The European Commission's response was a worrying one about the consequences of not respecting this commitment and showed, in black and white, that the statements of Romanian politicians on the renegotiation of the NRRP were mere press statements for the Romanian public.
FACIAS pointed out that a new pension law has not been adopted, as the Romanian state has committed itself to do through the NRRP, namely the law on special pensions was to be issued by 31 December 2022, but it is still only a draft law.
According to the European Commission's reply, failure to comply with the commitments made in the NRRP automatically leads to the blocking of the third payment request that Romania has to submit by 31 March 2023. Romania thus loses colossal non-reimbursable sums that could have been used for large-scale investments.
The revision of the NPRR, hot air for the press
The European Commission has told FACIAS that the Romanian side has not officially requested any revision or renegotiation of the NRRP, while the Romanian government has repeatedly stated that discussions on the issue have already started. "Finally, please note that Romania has not officially submitted a proposal for a renegotiation of the NRRP," the European Commission representative explained in the official reply sent to FACIAS.
