Fiscal Responsibility Law No. 69/2010
in force from 23 April 2010
Last amended on 02 April 2026
CHAPTER I
General Provisions
Art. 1.
The
main objectives of this Law are:
1. ensuring and maintaining fiscal discipline, transparency and medium-
and long-term sustainability of public finances;
2. establishing a framework of principles and rules on the basis of which
the Government shall ensure the implementation of fiscal policies conducive to
sound financial management of resources;
3. efficient management of public finances to serve the long-term public
interest, ensuring economic prosperity and anchoring fiscal policies within a
sustainable framework.
Art. 2.
The provisions of this Law shall apply to public authorities, institutions
and entities and/or entities of public utility as provided in Article 2(30) of
Law No 500/2002 on public finances, as subsequently amended and supplemented,
and in Article 2(39) of Law No 273/2006 on local public finances, as
subsequently amended and supplemented, financed according to Article 62 of Law
No 500/2002, as subsequently amended and supplemented, and Article 67 of Law No
273/2006, as subsequently amended and supplemented, as well as to other entities
classified within general government in accordance with
Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on the European system of
national and regional accounts in the European Union, published in the Official
Journal of the European Union, L series, No 174 of 26 June 2013.
Art. 3.
For the purposes of this Law, the following terms shall be defined as
follows:
1. fiscal strategy – the public policy document setting out objectives and
priorities in the fiscal area, the revenue and expenditure targets of the
general consolidated budget and of its component budgets, as well as the
evolution of the general consolidated budget balance over a three-year period;
2. general consolidated budget – the aggregate of the component budgets of
the budgetary system, comprising the state budget, the state social security
budget, the special funds budgets, the general centralised budget of
administrative-territorial units, the State Treasury budget, the budgets of
autonomous public institutions, the budgets of public institutions financed
wholly or partly from the state budget, from the state social security budget
and from the special funds budgets, as the case may be, the budgets of public
institutions financed wholly from own revenues, the budget of funds from
external loans contracted or guaranteed by the state whose repayment, interest
and other costs are ensured from public funds, the budget of non-reimbursable
external funds, as well as the budgets of other entities classified within
general government, aggregated, consolidated and adjusted in accordance with
Regulation (EU) No 549/2013, to form a
whole;
3. fiscal framework – a summary presentation of the main budgetary
indicators, both on the revenue and expenditure sides, including an aggregate
description of fiscal policy;
4. public debt, in accordance with European Union methodology – the
general government debt reported to the European Commission (Eurostat) and
published by Eurostat, expressed as a percentage of gross domestic product;
5. primary expenditures of the general consolidated budget – the
expenditures of the general consolidated budget from which interest payments on
public debt have been deducted;
6. general consolidated budget balance – the difference between the
revenues and the expenditures of the general consolidated budget;
7. primary balance of the general consolidated budget – the difference
between the revenues and the primary expenditures of the general consolidated
budget;
8. deterioration of the general consolidated budget balance – the increase
of the general consolidated budget deficit or the decrease of the general
consolidated budget surplus compared to that foreseen in the fiscal strategy for
the respective year;
9. annual structural balance of general government – the annual cyclically
adjusted balance from which one-off measures and temporary measures are
deducted, calculated on the basis of the methodology agreed at European Union
level;
10. medium-term budgetary objective – a target for the annual structural
balance of general government;
11. general government – an institutional unit, forming part of the
national economy, as defined in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 549/2013;
11¹. sub-sectors of general government – as defined in Annex A to
Regulation (EU) No 549/2013;
12. extraordinary circumstances – an unusual event outside the control of
the general government authorities that has a major impact on the financial
position of general government, or periods of severe economic recession as
defined in the revised Stability and Growth Pact;
13. Stability and Growth Pact – a set of European Union rules based on
Articles 121 and 126 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, as
well as Protocol No 12 on the excessive deficit procedure annexed thereto, aimed
at ensuring sound public finances across all member states of the European Union
and at surveillance by the European Union institutions of their fiscal policies;
14. social security administrations – has the meaning provided in
Regulation (EU) No 549/2013;
15. economic cycle – as defined and measured in accordance with
methodologies recognised at European Union level;
16. personnel expenditures – the total expenditure borne from the general
consolidated budget for personnel in the budgetary sector over a budgetary year,
comprising expenditures on basic salaries, basic function pays and monthly
position allowances, bonuses, indemnities, awards, incentives and other
salary-related entitlements, in cash or in kind, established in accordance with
the law, as well as the employer’s related social contributions;
17. financial assistance from the European Union and other donors – the
non-reimbursable financial assistance received by Romania in the form of
pre-accession and post-accession grants according to the provisions of the
memoranda and financing agreements concluded between the European Commission or
other donors and the Government of Romania;
18. centralised budget of administrative-territorial units – the revenues
and expenditures of the general budgets of administrative-territorial units, as
defined in Article 3(1) of Law No 273/2006, as subsequently amended and
supplemented;
19. investment expenditures – has the meaning provided in Law No 500/2002,
as subsequently amended and supplemented;
20. tax expenditures – all provisions of tax legislation, regulations or
legislative norms whose effect is to reduce budgetary revenues or to defer their
collection, applicable to certain categories of taxpayers, relative to the
general taxation standards established. These may include exemptions, deductions
and tax incentives, reduced tax rates, differentiated rules for the calculation
of taxes, fees and contributions established for the purpose of granting
preferential treatment to a category of taxpayers, as well as any other fiscal
regulations capable of reducing budgetary receipts.
CHAPTER II
Principles, objectives and rules of
fiscal policy
SECTION 1
Principles of fiscal policy
Art. 4.
(1) The Government of Romania shall define and conduct fiscal policy on
the basis of the following principles:
1. The principle of
transparency with regard to the setting of fiscal objectives and the conduct of
fiscal policy
The Government and local public authorities are obliged to make public and
to keep under public debate for a reasonable period of time all necessary
information allowing the assessment of the implementation of fiscal policies,
their outcomes and the state of central and, respectively, local public
finances.
2. The principle of
stability
The Government is obliged to conduct the fiscal policy in a manner that
ensures its medium-term predictability, for the purpose of maintaining
macroeconomic stability.
3. The principle of fiscal
responsibility
The Government is obliged to conduct the fiscal policy in a prudent manner
and to manage budgetary resources and obligations, as well as fiscal risks, in a
manner that ensures the sustainability of the fiscal position over the medium
and long term. The sustainability of public finances requires that, over the
medium and long term, the Government be able to manage risks or unforeseen
situations without having to make significant adjustments to expenditures,
revenues or the budget deficit that would have destabilising economic or social
effects.
4. The principle of equity
The Government shall conduct the fiscal policy taking into account the
potential financial impact on future generations, as well as the impact on
medium- and long-term economic development.
5. The principle of
efficiency
The Government’s fiscal policy shall be based on the efficient use of
scarce public resources, shall be defined on the basis of economic efficiency,
and decisions on the allocation of public investments, including those financed
from non-reimbursable funds received from the European Union and other donors,
shall be based inter alia on economic
assessment as well as on the assessment of absorption capacity.
6. The principle of
efficient management of personnel expenditure paid from public funds
Salary and staffing policies applicable to institutions, authorities,
public entities and/or entities of public utility must be consistent with the
fiscal-budgetary targets in the fiscal strategy, with the aim to improve the
management of funds allocated for that purpose.
(2) The principles set out in paragraph (1) shall apply accordingly to
local public administration authorities and, respectively, to other entities
whose budgets form part of the general consolidated budget.
SECTION 2
Objectives of fiscal policy
Art. 5.
(1) The Government is obliged to fulfil the fiscal policy objectives, to
elaborate and apply the annual fiscal strategy in accordance with the
fiscal-budgetary rules set out in this Law.
(2) The objectives of fiscal policy are:
a) maintaining public debt at a sustainable level over the medium and long
term;
b) prudent management of public sector resources and assumed obligations
and of fiscal-budgetary risks;
c) maintaining an adequate level of budgetary resources for the payment of
public debt service;
d) ensuring predictability in the level of tax rates and taxable bases.
SECTION 3
Rules of fiscal policy
Art. 6.
In order to comply with the reference values for the budget deficit and
public debt, as referred to in Protocol No 12 on the excessive deficit
procedure, annexed to the Treaties of the European Union, the budgetary position
of general government shall be balanced or in surplus.
Art. 7.
The rule laid down in Article 6 shall be considered to be complied with if
one of the following conditions is met:
a) the medium-term budgetary objective does not exceed a lower limit of
the annual structural balance of general government of -0.5% of gross domestic
product at market prices;
b) where the ratio of public debt calculated in accordance with European
Union methodology to gross domestic product at market prices is significantly
below 60% and where risks to the long-term sustainability of public finances are
low, the lower limit of the medium-term budgetary objective may not exceed an
annual structural balance of general government of at most -1.0% of gross
domestic product at market prices;
c) the annual structural deficit of general government is converging
towards the medium-term budgetary objective, in accordance with an adjustment
path agreed with the European Union institutions, in conformity with Regulation
(EC) No 1466/1997, as subsequently amended and supplemented.
Art. 8.
(1) A temporary deviation from the rules laid down in Articles 7 and 14
shall be permitted only in the event of extraordinary circumstances, and
provided that such deviation does not jeopardise medium-term fiscal
sustainability.
(2) Following the periodic review of the macroeconomic situation,
including forecasts of macroeconomic indicators, the Government shall publicly
announce, where appropriate, the onset of extraordinary circumstances and shall
request the opinion of the Fiscal Council on this matter.
(3) The Fiscal Council may directly notify the Government of the onset of
extraordinary circumstances, presenting at the same time an economic analysis to
support this option.
(4) After reviewing the opinion of the Fiscal Council expressed pursuant
to paragraphs (2) or (3), the Government shall, where appropriate, inform the
Romanian Parliament and the European Commission of the onset of extraordinary
circumstances and of the application of the provisions of paragraph (1).
(5) Following the periodic review of the macroeconomic situation,
including forecasts of macroeconomic indicators, the Government shall publicly
announce, where appropriate, the end of extraordinary circumstances and shall
request the opinion of the Fiscal Council on this matter.
(6) The Fiscal Council may directly notify the Government of the end of
extraordinary circumstances, presenting at the same time an economic analysis to
support this option.
(7) After reviewing the opinion of the Fiscal Council expressed pursuant
to paragraphs (5) or (6), the Government shall, where appropriate, inform the
Romanian Parliament and the European Commission of the end of extraordinary
circumstances and of the re-entry into the scope of the rules provided for in
Articles 7 and 14.
(8) After each cessation of extraordinary circumstances, the corrective
measures applied pursuant to the provisions of Article 14 shall lead to an
improvement in the structural balance of the general consolidated budget at
least equal to the requirements of the Stability and Growth Pact.
(9) Where the Government disagrees with the opinions of the Fiscal Council
issued in relation to the application of Articles 6 to 9 and Article 14, it
shall publicly explain the differences of opinion.
Art. 9.
Public debt, in accordance with European Union methodology, shall not
exceed 60% of gross domestic product.
Art. 10.
Where the ratio of public debt, in accordance with European Union
methodology, to gross domestic product exceeds the reference value of 60% set
out in Article 1 of Protocol No 12 on the excessive deficit procedure, annexed
to the Treaties of the European Union, measures shall be implemented to place
the indicator on a sufficiently declining path approaching the reference value
at a satisfactory pace during the adjustment period, in accordance with the
provisions of Regulation (EU) 2024/1263.
Art. 11.
In order to improve the coordination of public debt contracting planning
at European Union level, the Ministry of Public Finance shall transmit
ex ante to the European Commission
reports on the plan for contracting public debt.
Art. 12.
(1) The fiscal policy shall be conducted in accordance with the following
fiscal rules:
a) the balance of the general consolidated budget and the personnel
expenditures of the general consolidated budget, expressed as a percentage of
gross domestic product, may not exceed the annual ceilings established in the
fiscal framework of the fiscal strategy for the first 2 years covered by the
strategy;
b) the balance and, respectively, the primary balance of the general
consolidated budget, taking into account its components, for the following
budgetary year, may not exceed the ceiling established by the fiscal framework
of the fiscal strategy approved by Parliament;
c) the total expenditures of the general consolidated budget, excluding
financial assistance from the European Union and other donors, and the personnel
expenditure, taking into account the state budget, the state social security
budget, local budgets, the budgets of self-financed institutions, the special
funds budgets and other component budgets, shall not exceed the ceiling
specified in the fiscal framework of the fiscal strategy for the following
budgetary year;
d) the annual growth of general government expenditures shall comply with
the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2024/1263 or with the recommendations issued
by the European Union institutions within the framework of macroeconomic and
budgetary surveillance;
e) during the budgetary year, approved and unused commitment credits and
budgetary credits for investment expenditures may not be transferred and used
for current expenditures;
f) by way of derogation from the provisions of point e), during the
budgetary year, transfers of approved and unused commitment credits and
budgetary credits for investment expenditures may be made where such transfers
are carried out in order to secure the funds necessary for projects financed
from pre-accession/post-accession non-reimbursable external funds and from
reimbursable funds, or where they are made within the structure of such
projects, and only up to 20% of the credits approved for investment
expenditures;
g) where the positive balance of the general consolidated budget for the
respective budgetary year and the following 2 years is greater than projected,
the difference shall be used to reduce the public debt accumulated in previous
years.
(2) Where the rule established in paragraph (1)(d) is not complied with
and this non-compliance directly causes or is closely correlated with a
deviation observed from the medium-term budgetary objective or from the
adjustment path towards it, the provisions of Article 14 of this Law shall
apply.
Art. 13.
Thresholds for public debt calculated in accordance with European Union
methodology:
1. If public debt exceeds 45% of gross domestic product but remains below
50% of gross domestic product, the Ministry of Public Finance shall present to
the Government a report justifying the increase in debt and shall present
proposals for maintaining this indicator at a sustainable level.
2. If public debt exceeds 50% of gross domestic product but remains below
55% of gross domestic product:
a) the Government shall publicly present and implement as soon as possible
a programme for reducing the share of public debt in gross domestic product;
b) the programme referred to in point a) shall include, but not be limited
to, measures that result in a freeze on total public sector wage expenditures;
c) the measures contained in the programme referred to in point a) shall
be applied through the adoption of a legislative act at the level of a law, so
as to ensure the applicability of the measures as soon as possible, at the
latest in the semester following the one in which the excess of the public debt
percentage was recorded.
3. If public debt exceeds 55% of gross domestic product but remains below
60% of gross domestic product:
a) the provisions of point 2 shall apply;
b) the Government shall initiate measures resulting in a freeze on total
social assistance expenditures in the public system;
c) the measures referred to in point b) shall be applied through the
adoption of a legislative act at the level of a law, so as to ensure their
applicability as soon as possible, at the latest in the semester following the
one in which the excess of the public debt percentage was recorded.
4. If public debt exceeds 60% of gross domestic product:
a) the provisions of point 3 shall apply;
b) the Government shall initiate and apply a programme for reducing public
debt in accordance with the provisions of Article 10;
c) the measures contained in the programme referred to in point b) shall
be applied through the adoption of legislative acts at the level of laws,
identifying urgent measures to reduce the budget deficit and public debt, at the
latest in the semester following the one in which the excess of the public debt
percentage was recorded.
5. The provisions of points 2, 3 and point 4(a) shall not apply in the
event of extraordinary circumstances, where non-application does not jeopardise
the sustainability of public debt over the medium and long term.
SECTION 4
Correction mechanism
Art. 14.
(1) Where a deviation from the medium-term budgetary objective or from the
adjustment path towards it is observed, the Government shall approve or, as the
case may be, transmit to Parliament for adoption a set of measures aimed at
correcting such deviation.
(2) For the purposes of this Article, a deviation from the medium-term
budgetary objective shall occur where Romania departs significantly from the
adjustment trajectory indicated in the documents issued by the European Union
institutions in the context of the budgetary surveillance process.
(3) The corrective measures shall be formulated in quantifiable terms,
phased over years, and shall produce effects at the latest the following year.
(4) The corrective measures shall be proportionate to the size of the
deviation.
(5) The corrective measures shall be applied as a priority to those
budgets or component entities of general government that generated the
deviation.
(6) The corrective measures shall ensure the implementation of the
recommendations addressed to Romania by the European Union institutions, as well
as a pace of correction established in accordance with the Stability and Growth
Pact.
(7) The identification of a deviation from the medium-term budgetary
objective or from the adjustment path towards it shall be made by the Fiscal
Council in its opinions or recommendations concerning budget planning or
execution.
(8) The Fiscal Council shall issue opinions on the corrective measures and
on their implementation.
CHAPTER III
Budgetary expenditures
SECTION 1
Assessment of expenditures impact
Art. 15.
(1) In the case of proposals to
introduce measures/policies/legislative initiatives whose adoption entails an
increase in budgetary expenditures, the initiators are obliged to present:
a) the financial statement provided for in Article 15 of Law No 500/2002,
as subsequently amended and supplemented, accompanied by the hypotheses and
calculation methodology used;
b) a declaration that the respective expenditures increase is compatible
with the objectives and strategic priorities specified in the fiscal strategy,
with the annual budget law and with the expenditures ceilings set out in the
fiscal strategy.
(2) The Ministry of Public Finance is obliged to verify the financial
statement presented pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1). To that end,
the Ministry of Public Finance may request the opinion of the Fiscal Council.
SECTION 2
Personnel expenditures
Art. 16.
The Government and each authorising officer, as well as any entity
responsible for formulating salary and staffing policies in the public sector,
must ensure that all such policies and salary agreements are consistent with the
principles of fiscal responsibility, the fiscal rules, and the objectives and
limits of the fiscal strategy.
Art. 17.
(1) Legislative acts may not be promoted within fewer than 180 days before
the expiry of the Government’s term of office, in accordance with Article 110(1)
of the Romanian Constitution, as republished, that lead to an increase in
personnel expenditures or pensions in the budgetary sector.
(2) The total personnel expenditures of the general consolidated budget
may not be increased during the budgetary year on the occasion of budget
revisions.
(3) Negotiations for certain entitlements which, pursuant to the law, are
established through collective labour agreements may be concluded only after the
fiscal framework of the fiscal strategy has been approved, subject to compliance
with the established personnel expenditures ceilings.
Art. 18.
(1) In relation to the targets provided for in Article 37(4), the
execution of personnel expenditures shall be assessed by the Ministry of Public
Finance at the end of each quarter.
(2) In order to remain within the quarterly limits on personnel
expenditures, authorising officers may reduce salary entitlements established by
law in variable amounts and those whose granting is optional pursuant to the
law.
(3) In exceptional and duly justified cases where a main authorising
officer fails to remain within the quarterly limit for personnel expenditures,
the Ministry of Public Finance may approve an increase in that limit, provided
that the main authorising officer demonstrates compliance with the provisions of
paragraph (2) and that the annual budget approved for that purpose has been
adhered to.
(4) The main authorising officers in the situation referred to in
paragraph (3) are obliged, in the quarter following the quarter for which the
personnel expenditures limit was increased, to record savings in personnel
expenditures equal to the amount by which the preceding quarterly limit was
increased.
(5) The main authorising officers are obliged to take all necessary
measures both to fulfil the provisions of paragraph (4) and to meet quarterly
targets for total expenditures, including by reducing the number of funded posts
and their budgets and, respectively, by laying off, in accordance with the law,
part of the employed staff.
(6) Until the obligation provided for in paragraph (4) has been fulfilled,
the main authorising officers whose quarterly limit for personnel expenditures
was increased are prohibited from:
a) granting bonuses or paying overtime;
b) promoting employees, if this entails an increase in personnel
expenditures;
c) advertising vacant posts or filling them by other means provided for by
law.
Art. 18¹.
The main authorising officers are obliged to take all necessary measures
to remain within the approved personnel expenditures, resorting to, but not
limited to, the measures provided for in Article 18(2), (5) and (6).
CHAPTER IV
Budgetary revenues
Art. 19.
The amendment by the Ministry of Public Finance of the budgetary revenue
forecasts that formed the basis for the elaboration of the fiscal strategy or of
the annual budget laws, on the occasion of debates on the fiscal strategy or the
annual budget laws, may be carried out with the agreement of the Government and
with the favourable opinion of the Fiscal Council.
Art. 20.
(1) Within 30 days of the publication of the state budget law and the
state social security budget law in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, the
Ministry of Public Finance shall elaborate and publish the annual programme for
the collection of budgetary revenues for the state budget, the state social
security budget and the special funds budgets, presenting:
a) quarterly revenues collection targets, broken down by type of revenues;
b) quarterly targets for the recovery of tax arrears;
c) the measures envisaged to combat tax evasion and fraud.
(2) Within 30 days of the publication of the state budget law in the
Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, the Ministry of Public Finance shall
publish an annual forecast of revenues estimated to be collected by local
budgets, the budgets of self-financed institutions and other component budgets
of the general consolidated budget not referred to in paragraph (1), also
presenting quarterly estimates of revenues collection broken down by type of
revenues, as well as quarterly estimates for the recovery of tax arrears, and
proposals for legislative acts or amendments to legislative acts aimed at
improving and streamlining revenues collection for local budgets, the budgets of
self-financed institutions and other component budgets of the general
consolidated budget.
Art. 21.
Where proposals are made for legislative acts that lead to a reduction in
budgetary revenues, the financial statement shall be drawn up in accordance with
the provisions of Article 15 of Law No 500/2002, as subsequently amended and
supplemented, which must meet at least one of the following conditions:
a) it must have the endorsement of the Ministry of Public Finance and the
Fiscal Council, according to which the financial impact has been taken into
account in the budgetary revenues forecast and does not affect the annual and
medium-term budgetary targets;
b) it must be accompanied by proposals for measures to offset the
respective financial impact through an increase in other budgetary revenues.
Art. 22.
Legislative acts falling within the scope of Article 21 shall be adopted
simultaneously with the compensatory measures proposed by the initiator and
endorsed by the Government.
CHAPTER V
Rules on budget revisions
Art. 23.
(1) Any revision to the state budget, the state social security budget and
the special funds budgets, as well as the use of amounts withheld in accordance
with the provisions of Article 21(5) of Law No 500/2002, as subsequently amended
and supplemented, must take into account the conclusions of the published
semi-annual report on the economic and budgetary situation and the opinion of
the Fiscal Council thereon.
(2) No more than two budget revisions may be approved in a budgetary year
and these may not be promoted in the first 6 months of the year.
(3) By way of derogation from the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2), in
the event of a significant deterioration of the forecast of the macroeconomic
indicators that formed the basis of the budget law, a budget revision may be
promoted in the first semester of the year.
Art. 24.
Total expenditures of the general consolidated budget, excluding financial
assistance from the European Union and other donors, may be supplemented on the
occasion of budget revisions only to cover the payment of public debt service
and to cover Romania’s contribution to the budget of the European Union.
Art. 25.
Where the semi-annual report on the economic and budgetary situation
identifies a deterioration in the projected balance of the general consolidated
budget compared to the target taken into account when approving the annual
budget by more than 0.5% of the gross domestic product considered when drawing
up the annual budget, and this deterioration is not attributable to a
significant worsening of the macroeconomic forecast, the Government is obliged
to implement appropriate measures to achieve the target concerning the balance
of the general consolidated budget.
CHAPTER VI
Fiscal strategy
Art. 26.
(1) By 31 July of each year, the Ministry of Public Finance shall submit
to the Government the fiscal strategy for the following 3 years, which shall
contain the macroeconomic framework underlying the fiscal policy, the fiscal
framework with budgetary forecasts and fiscal policy, and a statement of
responsibility pursuant to the provisions of this Law, which the Government
shall present to Parliament by 15 August of each year.
(2) Together with the fiscal strategy referred to in paragraph (1), the
Government shall also submit the draft law for the approval of the limits
specified in the fiscal framework provided for in Article 29(1), as
substantiated in the fiscal strategy.
(3) The draft law for the approval of the limits specified in the fiscal
framework shall also include the medium-term budgetary objective and the
adjustment path towards it.
(4) The limits for the overall balance and personnel expenditures of the
general consolidated budget, as referred to in Article 29(1)(a) and (c),
approved by Parliament, shall be binding for the following 2 budgetary years.
(5) The limits referred to in Article 29(1)(d)-(i), approved by
Parliament, shall be binding for the following budgetary year.
Art. 27.
The macroeconomic framework shall use the most up-to-date information
available and shall represent the most likely macro-fiscal scenario or a more
prudent scenario.
Art. 28.
The macroeconomic framework shall contain information on the macroeconomic
situation and forecasts:
1. for the current budgetary year and 3 subsequent years, as well as the
actual results for the last 2 budgetary years, relating to:
a) gross domestic product and its components;
b) the consumer price index and the gross domestic product deflator;
c) unemployment and employment;
d) the current account position of the balance of payments;
e) the relevant methodologies, assumptions and parameters underlying the
macroeconomic forecasts;
f) a statement on the consistency with or differences from the most recent
forecasts of the European Commission. Significant differences between
macroeconomic forecasts and the European Commission’s projections and, where
appropriate, those of other independent bodies shall be explained, including
where the level or growth of variables in the external assumptions diverges
significantly from the values mentioned in the Commission’s projections;
2. medium-term macroeconomic projections affecting fiscal policy.
Art. 29.
(1) The fiscal framework shall include ceilings for the following
budgetary year and 2 subsequent years, actual results for the 2 years preceding
the current budgetary year and estimated results for the current year, in
respect of:
a) the balance of the general consolidated budget, expressed as a share of
gross domestic product;
b) the annual structural balance of general government, expressed as a
share of gross domestic product;
c) personnel expenditures of the general consolidated budget, expressed as
a share of gross domestic product;
d) ceilings on reimbursable financing that may be contracted and on
drawdowns from reimbursable financing contracted or to be contracted by
administrative-territorial units;
e) ceilings on the issuance of guarantees by the Government, through the
Ministry of Public Finance, and by administrative-territorial units;
f) public debt, calculated in accordance with European Union methodology;
g) the nominal level of total and personnel expenditures for the general
consolidated budget, the state budget, the state social security budget, local
budgets, the budgets of self-financed institutions, the special funds budgets
and other component budgets of the general consolidated budget, excluding
financial assistance from the European Union and other donors;
h) the nominal balance of the general consolidated budget, the state
budget, the state social security budget, the special funds budgets and other
component budgets of the general consolidated budget;
i) the primary balance of the general consolidated budget.
(2) The fiscal framework section of the fiscal strategy shall also
include:
a) actual results for the 2 years preceding the current budgetary year and
estimated results for the current year, as well as forecasts for 3 years
subsequent thereto, for the general consolidated budget and its component
budgets, relating to:
- the level of revenues of the general consolidated budget, by type of
revenues;
- the level of expenditures of the general consolidated budget, in the
economic classification and in the classification by function;
- investment expenditures;
- public debt, in accordance with European Union methodology;
- government guarantees granted in accordance with national legislation;
- any other information that the Ministry of Public Finance considers
important for the fiscal strategy;
- the key assumptions underlying the determination of the indicators in
the fiscal strategy;
- sensitivity analysis of fiscal targets to changes in macroeconomic
indicators, as well as sensitivity analyses of public debt and interest
expenditures, based on different assumptions concerning economic growth rates
and interest rates;
b) an explanation of fiscal policies with reference to the principles and
objectives of fiscal responsibility and to the fiscal rules, and any temporary
measures to be implemented in order to ensure compliance therewith;
c) an analysis relating to:
- revenues policy, including planned tax and duty changes and policies
affecting other revenues;
- public borrowing policy and financing of the budget deficit, and a debt
sustainability analysis;
- expenditures policy, including expenditures priorities, intentions
regarding the total expenditures of the consolidated budget and other budgets
and expenditures ceilings and other targets or limits implied by or imposed
under the fiscal rules;
d) the analysis of fiscal risks, comprising any commitments not included
in the fiscal forecasts and all circumstances that may have a material effect on
the fiscal and economic forecasts and which have not already been incorporated
in the fiscal forecasts, as well as information on losses and outstanding
payments of majority state-owned companies. The analysis of fiscal risks shall
include, to the extent possible, information on contingent liabilities generated
by natural disasters and climate change. This information shall take into
account, to the extent possible, the fiscal costs incurred as a result of
disasters and climate-related shocks;
e) an explanation of the link between the revised fiscal strategy and the
previous one, and an explanation of the significant changes;
f) the relevant methodologies, hypotheses and parameters underlying the
budgetary forecasts;
g) an assessment of how, taking into account their direct medium- and
long-term impact on the finances of public administrations, the planned policies
could affect the medium- and long-term sustainability of public finances and
sustainable and inclusive growth. To the extent possible, the assessment shall
take into account macro-budgetary risks generated by climate change, their
environmental impact and their distributive impact;
h) a description of medium-term policies, including planned reforms and
investments expected to have an impact on the finances of public administrations
and on sustainable and inclusive growth, broken down by main revenues and
expenditures categories, showing how the adjustment towards medium-term national
budgetary objectives is to be achieved, compared with projections under
unchanged policies.
(3) Budgetary forecasts shall be compared with the most recent projections
of the European Commission and, where appropriate, with those of other
independent bodies. Significant differences between the budgetary forecasts and
the European Commission’s projections shall be explained, including where the
level or growth of variables in the external assumptions diverges significantly
from the values mentioned in the European Commission’s projections.
(4) The medium-term expenditures framework shall contain plans for the
allocation of budgetary resources for the following budgetary year and 2 years
subsequent thereto, estimated results for the current budgetary year and actual
results for the 2 preceding years, relating to:
a) expenditures priorities and their detailed justification, including an
explanation of how the Government intends to improve the policy, the efficiency
and effectiveness of the services provided, the quality of its regulatory
activities and its initiatives to reduce barriers to the business environment
and to encourage the growth of the private sector in various areas;
b) state budget expenditures, broken down by the top 10 main authorising
officers of the state budget, in descending order, as determined by the
Government, expenditures of other component budgets of the general consolidated
budget, and estimates of total expenditures of the centralised budget of
administrative-territorial units;
c) the Government’s priority public investment projects proposed to be
financed over the 3-year period covered by the fiscal strategy.
(5) The statement of responsibility shall contain a statement signed by
the prime minister and the minister of public finance, attesting to the accuracy
and completeness of the information in the fiscal strategy and its compliance
with this Law, the targets or limits for the fiscal rules and adherence to the
principles of fiscal responsibility.
CHAPTER VII
Annual budget
Art. 30.
(1) Each main authorising officer shall submit a budgetary expenditures
proposal that is consistent with the fiscal strategy and with the methodology
for elaborating the annual draft budget, including expenditures ceilings and
staffing levels, issued by the Ministry of Public Finance.
(2) The pre-allocation of earmarked budgetary amounts to specific main
authorising officers or sectors shall not be permitted. Budgetary funds
allocations to main authorising officers or sectors may only be made through the
annual budget draft.
(3) The Ministry of Public Finance shall have the authority to reject all
budget proposals, including expenditures proposals submitted by the main
authorising officers of the state budget, the state social security budget and
the special funds budgets during the annual budget process, if they are not
consistent with the fiscal strategy and with the methodology for elaborating the
annual draft budget, and where the authorising officers do not align their
budget proposal within the time period specified by the Ministry of Public
Finance, the latter is empowered, following negotiations under the mediation of
the prime minister, to unilaterally adjust the budget proposal, for inclusion in
the annual budget.
(4) The Government is obliged to present to Parliament an annual budget
that complies with the principles of fiscal responsibility, the fiscal rules,
the fiscal strategy and any other provisions of this Law, and the prime minister
and the minister of public finance shall sign a declaration attesting to such
compliance, which shall be presented to Parliament together with the annual
budget.
(5) In the event that the Government is unable to comply with the
conformity condition laid down in paragraph (4), the prime minister and the
minister of public finance shall include in the declaration the deviations, as
well as the measures and deadlines by which the Government will ensure
compliance with the principles of fiscal responsibility, the fiscal rules and
the fiscal strategy.
(6) The Fiscal Council shall express an opinion on the declaration
referred to in paragraph (4), including the particulars provided for in
paragraph (5).
Art. 31.
The state budget law and the state social security budget law for each
year must be harmonised with the fiscal strategy and with the provisions of this
Law and shall include in an annex to the report of the state budget law the
fiscal targets comprising:
a) the annual fiscal targets as nominal values and expressed as a share of
gross domestic product for the following budgetary year and 2 subsequent years,
relating to: the budget balance, the primary budget balance, total revenues and
expenditures, primary budgetary expenditures for the general consolidated
budget;
b) information on public debt, in accordance with European Union
methodology, and government guarantees, in accordance with European Union
methodology;
c) the rationale for the established targets, including through the
presentation of the calculation methodology used, and a comparison with actual
results for the last 2 years;
d) a presentation of the financial impact of legislative changes and of
the measures to offset such impact.
Art. 32.
The report accompanying the state budget law shall also include detailed
information on the impact of tax expenditures on budgetary revenues.
CHAPTER VIII
Derogation clauses
Art. 33.
The fiscal framework of the fiscal strategy provided for in Article 29(1)
may be revised in the following situations:
a) a change in the scope of the general consolidated budget, in which case
the reasons for such change must be explained and the information provided for
in Article 29(1) must be presented in a format comparable with the new structure
of the general consolidated budget;
b) a significant deterioration of the forecast of macroeconomic indicators
and other hypotheses that were used in the elaboration of the fiscal strategy;
c) a change of Government, in which case, at the commencement of the new
Government’s term of office, it shall publicly state whether its governance
programme falls within the last fiscal strategy approved by Parliament or, if
not, the Ministry of Public Finance shall elaborate the draft of a new fiscal
strategy.
Art. 34.
Deviations from the rules provided for in Article 12(1)(a), Article 26(4)
and Article 29(1)(f) are permitted where statistical revisions to gross domestic
product are recorded.
Art. 35.
(1) During the elaboration and debate of the fiscal strategy pursuant to
the provisions of Article 26(1) and of the annual budget laws, no amendments may
be introduced that would lead to a deterioration in the level of the general
consolidated budget balance provided for in the previous fiscal strategy, to an
increase in expenditures and in borrowing and guarantee ceilings, or to any
other amendments that are not in conformity with the objectives of this Law and
with the fiscal rules.
(2) The Parliament may return the fiscal strategy to the Government with
comments and observations. In that case, the Government shall incorporate and/or
respond to such comments within 15 days, in consultation with the Fiscal
Council, and shall submit the revised fiscal strategy. If the Parliament again
fails to agree with the proposed fiscal strategy and does not approve the draft
law provided for in Article 26(2), the prime minister, with the endorsement of
the Fiscal Council, shall present a final projection of the fiscal framework,
taking into account the Parliament’s observations, and, at the proposal of the
Ministry of Public Finance, shall submit the draft state budget law and the
draft state social security budget law for the following year.
Art. 36.
(1) A revision of the fiscal strategy may be made by the Parliament at the
proposal of the Government, except in the situation provided for in Article
33(a). In that case, the update of the fiscal strategy shall be approved by
Government decision.
(2) The revision of the fiscal strategy and of the draft state budget law
and the draft state social security budget law shall be subject to analysis and
opinion by the Fiscal Council.
(3) The revised fiscal strategy must contain a separate section clearly
highlighting the differences from the previous version, together with an
explanation thereof.
CHAPTER IX
Transparency of fiscal policy
SECTION 1
Budget execution and monitoring of
fiscal targets
Art. 37.
(1) Within 45 days of the publication of the state budget law and the
state social security budget law in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, the
Ministry of Public Finance shall publish on its website the quarterly financial
programming of expenditures of the state budget, the state social security
budget and the special funds budgets, in economic classification, based on the
quarterly budgetary revenues collection programme.
(2) Within 55 days of the publication of the state budget law in the
Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, the Ministry of Public Finance shall
publish on its website the quarterly estimates relating to expenditures of local
budgets, the budgets of self-financed institutions and other component budgets
of the general consolidated budget not referred to in paragraph (1), in economic
classification.
(3) To that end, the main authorising officers of the state budget, the
state social security budget and the special funds budgets shall transmit to the
Ministry of Public Finance their proposals for the quarterly phasing of
expenditures, within 15 days of the publication of the state budget law and the
state social security budget law in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I. The
main authorising officers of local budgets, the budgets of self-financed
institutions and other component budgets of the general consolidated budget
shall transmit to the Ministry of Public Finance their proposals for the
quarterly phasing of expenditures, within 45 days of the publication of the
state budget law in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I.
(4) On the basis of the quarterly expenditures programming and the
quarterly budgetary revenues collection programme, the Ministry of Public
Finance shall elaborate, approve and publish quarterly targets for expenditures,
revenues and the deficit of the general consolidated budget, as well as
quarterly targets for the personnel expenditures of the general consolidated
budget for the main authorising officers of the state budget, the state social
security budget and the special funds budgets.
Art. 38.
(1) The Ministry of Finance shall publish on its website budgetary data
based on cash accounting or equivalent data from public accounting, where data
based on cash accounting are not available, at least at the following frequency:
a) monthly and before the end of the following month, for the central
administration and sub-sectors of social security administrations;
b) quarterly and before the end of the following quarter, for the
sub-sector of local administration.
(2) The Ministry of Finance shall publish on its website data on public
debt, in accordance with European Union methodology, on a quarterly basis,
following the publication of public debt data by the European Commission
(Eurostat), for total general government and broken down by sub-sectors of
general government.
(3) The National Institute of Statistics shall publish on its website
quarterly data on the budget deficit, for total general government and broken
down by sub-sectors of general government, within at most 10 days of the
publication of the relevant data by the European Commission (Eurostat).
Art. 39.
The Ministry of Public Finance shall publish annually on its website, for
all sub-sectors of general government, relevant information on contingent
liabilities with potentially major impact on public budgets, including
information on state guarantees, non-performing loans and liabilities arising
from the operation of majority state-owned companies, including the amount of
the liabilities. The Ministry of Public Finance shall also publish on its
website information on general government holdings in the capital of companies
regulated by the Companies Law No 31/1990, as republished and subsequently
amended, and national companies.
Art. 40.
By the end of April, July and October of each year, the Government shall
publicly present an assessment of quarterly budget execution and the degree of
achievement of the quarterly targets provided for in Article 37(4). In the event
of deviations from the established targets, the Government shall also present
the measures envisaged to correct such imbalances through expenditures
reductions or measures to improve revenues collection.
Art. 41.
The assessments of quarterly budget execution and the measures envisaged
to correct any deviations shall be subject to analysis and evaluation by the
Fiscal Council.
SECTION 2
Semi-annual and annual report on the
economic and budgetary situation
Art. 42.
By the end of July of each year, the Ministry of Public Finance shall
publish on its website a semi-annual report on the economic and budgetary
situation.
Art. 43.
The semi-annual report on the economic and budgetary situation shall
include, but not be limited to, the following:
a) a re-examination of the macroeconomic framework that formed the basis
of the budget for the respective year, as well as the most recent data on
macroeconomic indicators, identifying significant trends and changes compared to
those estimated at the time the state budget law and the state social security
budget law were finalised;
b) a quantification of the impact of any changes in the macroeconomic
forecast on the annual and medium-term budgetary targets, and a presentation of
the measures to be taken;
c) data on revenues of the general consolidated budget, broken down by
revenues category, specifying the initial forecast, revenues collected in the
first 6 months, and an updated forecast for the full year;
d) data on expenditures of the general consolidated budget, broken down in
economic classification and classification by function, for each budget
comprising the general consolidated budget, specifying the approved programme,
expenditures incurred in the first 6 months, and an updated forecast for the
full year;
e) data on state budget expenditures, broken down in economic
classification, for each main authorising officer of the state budget,
specifying the approved programme, expenditures incurred in the first 6 months,
and an updated forecast for the full year;
f) data on the budget balance, both for the total and primary general
consolidated budget and for each budget comprising the general consolidated
budget, specifying the approved programme, the result achieved in the first 6
months, and an updated forecast for the full year;
g) data on the absorption of funds received from the European Union and
other donors, specifying the approved programme, the result achieved in the
first 6 months, and an updated forecast for the full year;
h) data on outstanding payments of the general consolidated budget at the
end of the first quarter and estimates for the first semester, and for each
budget comprising the general consolidated budget;
i) data on the financing of the budget deficit and the level of public
debt;
j) justifications for any shortfalls in revenues forecasts, specifying the
measures taken and planned to improve collection.
Art. 44.
(1) The information contained in the semi-annual report on the economic
and budgetary situation must take into account, to the extent possible, all
decisions of the Government as well as all other situations that may have an
effect on the fiscal and economic outlook for the respective year.
(2) The data and information contained in the semi-annual report on the
economic and budgetary situation must be presented in a format comparable with
those in the annual budget programme and with those in the fiscal strategy.
Art. 44¹.
(1) By the end of March of each year, the prime minister shall present, in
a joint session of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, a report on the
economic and budgetary situation in the preceding year.
(2) The annual report on the economic and budgetary situation shall
include, but not be limited to, the information provided for in Article 43, as
well as the following information:
a) the impact of fiscal measures approved during the budgetary year
following the adoption of the annual budget law, including with regard to
improving the level of voluntary tax compliance and increasing tax revenues;
b) the impact of budgetary measures approved during the budgetary year
following the adoption of the annual budget law on the general macroeconomic
framework, the evolution of gross domestic product and the fiscal convergence
criteria.
SECTION 3
Report on final budget execution
Art. 45.
Within at most 5 months of the close of the budgetary year, the minister
of finance shall present, at a joint session of the budget-finance committees of
the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, and shall publish on the Ministry’s
website, a report on final budget execution, which shall include:
a) information on the results of budgetary policy in the completed year
and a comparison of these results with both the strategic objectives and
priorities and the fiscal targets in the fiscal strategy and the annual budget;
b) an analysis of how the Government complied with the principles and
fiscal rules provided for in this Law and an explanation of any deviations
therefrom;
c) an evaluation of fiscal policy in the completed budgetary year and of
its results in relation to the medium-term objective set out in the fiscal
strategy;
d) an evaluation of any deviations from the Government’s medium-term
objective and a presentation of the measures to bring results in line with the
established targets.
Art. 46.
The report on final budget execution shall include execution data for the
indicators provided for in Article 29(1), as well as a separate section clearly
highlighting deviations from the fiscal strategy and from the initial annual
budget, and an explanation of the significant changes.
Art. 47.
The report on final budget execution shall also include a detailed
cross-reference table on budgetary and public debt indicators, indicating the
methodology for transitioning between data based on public accounting and data
based on European Union standards.
SECTION 4
Report on the economic and budgetary
situation at the end of the government’s term
Art. 48.
At least 60 days before the organisation of parliamentary elections, the
Government shall publish on its website a report on the economic and budgetary
situation.
Art. 49.
The report on the economic and budgetary situation at the end of the
Government’s term must contain the following information:
a) an estimate of revenues, expenditures and the balance of the general
consolidated budget for the current financial year, broken down in economic
classification and by component budgets of the general consolidated budget;
b) a forecast of macroeconomic indicators and other economic assumptions
that formed the basis for elaborating the estimates referred to in point a);
c) an analysis of the risks, quantified where possible, that may have an
effect on the budgetary outlook, including any other commitments of the
Government not included in the fiscal forecasts, as well as information on
losses and outstanding payments of majority state-owned companies;
d) a statement signed by the prime minister and the minister of public
finance, attesting that the information in the report reflects the best
estimates available at the time and that these have been elaborated in a
realistic manner, that they reflect all available information on the economic
and fiscal outlook, include the information communicated by the main authorising
officers and comply with the provisions of Article 50.
Art. 50.
The information contained in the report referred to in Article 49 must
take into account all decisions of the Government as well as all other known
situations that may have an effect on the fiscal and economic outlook.
SECTION 5
Financial impact of electoral
commitments
Art. 51.
(1) Sixty days before general elections, the leaders of political parties
may request the prime minister or the Fiscal Council to calculate the financial
impact of the proposed and publicly announced policies.
(2) Such a request must be made in writing and must describe in detail the
proposed policy, providing relevant details for the calculation of the financial
impact.
(3) The request addressed to the prime minister shall be transmitted
directly to the Ministry of Public Finance, the responsible ministries or the
Fiscal Council.
(4) The Ministry of Public Finance and/or the line ministries shall not
respond to requests from leaders of political parties unless these have been
transmitted through the prime minister.
Art. 52.
(1) Within 30 days of the date of the request, the Ministry of Public
Finance and/or the line ministry or the chairman of the Fiscal Council shall
publish the financial impact of the respective policy, together with the
hypotheses underlying its calculation and the calculation methodology, based on
information available to the Ministry of Public Finance and/or the line
ministries.
(2) Where the Ministry of Public Finance and/or the line ministry or the
Fiscal Council did not have sufficient information or did not have sufficient
time to prepare and publish the respective financial impact, they shall announce
this publicly.
CHAPTER X
Fiscal Council
SECTION 1
Responsibilities and powers
Art. 53.
(1) The Fiscal Council is an independent authority, composed of 5 members
with experience in the field of macroeconomic and budgetary policies, which
supports the activities of the Government and Parliament in the process of
formulating and implementing fiscal policies, in order to ensure the quality of
the macroeconomic forecasts underlying the budgetary projections and medium- and
long-term fiscal policies. Members of the Fiscal Council shall exercise their
mandate in accordance with the law and shall not solicit or receive instructions
from public authorities or from any other public or private institution or body.
(2) The Fiscal Council shall have the following main attributions:
a) analysis and formulation of opinions and recommendations on the
official macroeconomic and budgetary forecasts;
b) monitoring of compliance with and application of the fiscal rules
provided for in this Law, including those relating to the correction mechanism
and extraordinary circumstances;
c) analysis and formulation of opinions and recommendations on the fiscal
strategy, as well as assessment of its compliance with the principles and fiscal
rules provided for by law;
c¹) fulfilling the tasks assigned to independent fiscal institutions
pursuant to Article 11, Article 15(3) and Article 23 of Regulation (EU)
2024/1263 and Article 3(5) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97, as
subsequently amended and supplemented;
c²) assessment of the consistency, coherence and effectiveness of the
national budgetary framework;
d) assessment of the fiscal performance of the Government against the
fiscal objectives and strategic priorities specified in the fiscal strategy, as
well as against the principles and fiscal rules provided for by law, through:
- analysis and formulation of opinions and recommendations with regard to
the quarterly assessment elaborated by the Government concerning budget
execution, the degree of achievement of quarterly targets, and the measures
envisaged by the Government to correct any deviations;
- analysis and formulation of opinions and recommendations with regard to
the semi-annual report on the economic and budgetary situation;
- analysis and formulation of opinions and recommendations with regard to
the final report on the economic and budgetary situation;
- analysis and formulation of opinions and recommendations with regard to
the report on the economic and budgetary situation at the end of the
Government’s term;
e) analysis and formulation of opinions and recommendations, both before
approval by the Government and before transmission to Parliament, on the annual
budget laws, budget revisions, as well as other legislative initiatives that may
have an impact on the volume of budgetary expenditures, and assessment of their
compliance with the principles and fiscal rules provided for in this Law;
f) preparation of estimates and issuance of opinions both with regard to
the budgetary impact of draft legislative acts other than those mentioned in
point e), and with regard to amendments made to the annual budget laws during
parliamentary debates;
g) providing information within its competence, following a written
request, to the President of Romania, the presidents of the two Chambers of
Parliament, the President of the Court of Accounts, the Governor of the National
Bank of Romania and parliamentary committees;
h) informing the budget-finance committees of the Romanian Parliament or
the Government with regard to any legislative initiatives that might promote the
maintenance of fiscal discipline and transparency in the budget process.
h¹) participating in hearings and periodic discussions in Parliament, if
invited;
i) conducting an ex post
evaluation, starting with the 2024 budget, of the spending review carried out by
the Ministry of Finance and main authorising officers in accordance with the
multi-annual strategy provided for in Article 31¹(3)(a) of Law No 500/2002, as
subsequently amended and supplemented. For the purpose of fulfilling this new
attribution, all necessary resources shall be made available to the Fiscal
Council.
(3) The opinions, forecasts, analyses and recommendations of the Fiscal
Council shall be published on its website. The Fiscal Council may also
communicate publicly on these matters through other means.
(4) The opinions and recommendations of the Fiscal Council shall be
examined by the Government and Parliament when elaborating the fiscal strategy,
the annual budget laws, as well as other measures required by the application of
this Law and, respectively, when endorsing/approving these.
(5) Where the Fiscal Council identifies, pursuant to the provisions of
Article 61(2), a significant bias affecting macroeconomic forecasts for a period
of at least 4 consecutive years, the Government shall take the necessary
measures and make them public.
(6) Public authorities and institutions that initiate and approve draft
legislative acts or that elaborate other documents relating to the fiscal policy
shall act in accordance with the opinions or recommendations of the Fiscal
Council issued and published in the context of fulfilling the attributions
established in paragraph (2), or shall set out the differences of opinion. The
explanations shall be made public and presented within two months of the date of
publication of the evaluations, opinions or recommendations of the Fiscal
Council to which they relate.
Art. 54.
(1) The Fiscal Council may request from any public institution or
authority information, documents or data relevant to the fulfilment of the
attributions and responsibilities provided for in this Law.
(2) The Fiscal Council may request information, documents or data relevant
to the fulfilment of its attributions and responsibilities, in any format or
level of detail, from the entity managing such information or responsible for
its processing. The respective entity shall transmit the requested
information/documents/data, in the form requested, within 10 days of the request
by the Fiscal Council. By way of exception, in the case of requests relating to
annual budget laws, budget revisions or the fiscal strategy, the transmission
deadline shall be a maximum of 3 working days.
(3) If the requested information is not available or cannot be transmitted
within the deadline provided for in paragraph (2), the respective entity shall
notify the Fiscal Council in writing of this fact.
(4) If the entity obliged to communicate the information/documents/data
requested by the Fiscal Council fails to do so within the deadline provided for
in paragraph (2), the Fiscal Council may request the respective information from
the Ministry of Public Finance. The Ministry of Public Finance shall transmit
the requested information within 7 days of the date of the request or shall
notify the Fiscal Council in writing if the respective information is not
available.
(5) If the entity obliged to provide the information/documents/data
requested by the Fiscal Council fails to do so within the deadlines provided for
in paragraphs (2) and (4), the Fiscal Council shall make this public.
(6) Requests by the Fiscal Council to the entity obliged to provide the
requested data may also be made in the form of a document with an electronic
signature, where an agreement exists to that effect.
(7) No person acting on behalf of an entity obliged to provide information
to the Fiscal Council shall be disadvantaged for having communicated to the
Fiscal Council the data necessary for the fulfilment of its attributions and
responsibilities, provided that the rules on the treatment of confidential
information referred to in paragraph (2) have been complied with.
SECTION 2
Members of the Fiscal Council
Art. 55.
(1) Members of the Fiscal Council shall be appointed by decision of
Parliament for a period of 9 years. Members of the Fiscal Council may not be
re-elected upon completion of their term. Where a member’s term has ended after
a period of 3 years, that member may be re-elected once.
(2) The Romanian Academy, the National Bank of Romania, the Bucharest
University of Economic Studies, the Romanian Banking Institute and the Romanian
Banks’ Association shall each nominate one person to be a member of the Fiscal
Council.
(3) The persons nominated to become members of the Fiscal Council shall be
heard by the budget-finance committees of Parliament and shall be voted on by
Parliament. Where the persons nominated pursuant to paragraph (2) do not obtain
the necessary votes, the entities referred to shall make further nominations
within 15 days.
(4) The persons nominated to become members of the Fiscal Council must
demonstrate their behavioural and fiscal integrity, having no data recorded in
the fiscal or criminal record, must be Romanian citizens with the right to vote,
hold a university degree in economics, have a good reputation, competence and
professional experience in the field of macroeconomic policies, public finances
or public budget management, and a minimum of 10 years of specialised
experience.
(5) The following persons may not be nominated to become members of the
Fiscal Council:
a) a person who, within 4 years before nomination, held a position of
public dignity within the Government;
b) a person who, within 4 years before nomination, was a member of the
Romanian Parliament or the European Parliament or held a leadership position
within a political party;
c) a person whose spouse, parents, children, siblings, other relatives or
persons related by affinity, up to and including the fourth degree, hold a
position of public dignity within the Government, are members of the Romanian
Parliament or the European Parliament, or hold a leadership position within a
political party.
(6) During their term of office, members of the Fiscal Council:
a) may not accept a position of public dignity within the Government or an
assimilated position and may not become members of the Romanian Parliament or
the European Parliament or hold a leadership position within a political party;
b) may not be spouses or relatives or persons related by affinity, up to
and including the second degree, of persons holding a position within the
Government or an assimilated position, who are members of the Romanian
Parliament or the European Parliament, or who hold a leadership position within
a political party;
c) may not be civil servants;
d) may not be members of the boards of directors, executive directors,
censors or auditors of national companies or majority state-owned companies.
(7) Members of the Fiscal Council are obliged to notify immediately, in
writing, the budget-finance committees of Parliament of the occurrence of any of
the incompatibility situations provided for in paragraph (6) and to take the
necessary steps to end the state of incompatibility within 10 days of its
occurrence.
(8) If members of the Fiscal Council who are in any of the incompatibility
situations provided for in paragraph (6) fail to fulfil the obligations provided
for in paragraph (7), the budget-finance committees of Parliament shall
establish their incompatibility.
(9) If members of the Fiscal Council who are in any of the incompatibility
situations provided for in paragraph (6) demonstrate the termination of such
incompatibility within the deadline provided for in paragraph (7), the
budget-finance committees of Parliament shall not establish their
incompatibility.
(10) If a member of the Fiscal Council’s term ends before the deadline
provided for in paragraph (1), the corresponding entity pursuant to the
provisions of paragraph (2) shall propose to the budget-finance committees of
Parliament, within 15 days, a new nomination for the remainder of the term.
Art. 56.
(1) The chairman and deputy chairman of the Fiscal Council shall be
elected by the members of the Council by secret ballot, with a simple majority.
(2) The chairman of the Fiscal Council shall have the following
attributions:
a) chairing the Council;
b) convening Council meetings;
c) acting as the Council’s legal representative;
d) approving the publication of the analyses/studies/opinions and
recommendations elaborated by the Council, in accordance with its attributions
and responsibilities, following their endorsement by the members of the Council
by vote;
e) coordinating the Council’s secretariat.
(3) The chairman of the Fiscal Council shall be accountable to the
Romanian Parliament for the accuracy and precision of the
analyses/studies/opinions and recommendations elaborated by the Fiscal Council,
in accordance with its attributions and responsibilities.
(4) The Fiscal Council’s rules of organisation and functioning shall be
adopted unanimously.
(5) The Fiscal Council shall meet in the presence of a majority of its
members, including the chairman or, in the chairman’s absence, the deputy
chairman. Decisions shall be adopted by a simple majority of those present.
Art. 57.
The chairman of the Fiscal Council shall receive a monthly allowance at
the level of that of a secretary of state, and the deputy chairman, at the level
of that of an undersecretary of state. The other members of the Fiscal Council
are entitled to an allowance of 90% of the deputy chairman’s allowance, granted
where the chairman determines that the tasks assigned within the Council have
been fulfilled. The allowances shall be borne from the Fiscal Council’s budget.
SECTION 3
Termination of membership in the Fiscal
Council
Art. 58.
(1) Membership in the Fiscal Council shall terminate in the following
situations:
a) upon expiry of the term for which the member was appointed, under the
conditions of Article 55(1);
b) by resignation;
c) by revocation by the plenary of Parliament, in the following
situations:
- upon the establishment of an incompatibility in accordance with the
provisions of Article 55(6);
- where a criminal conviction with a custodial sentence, having become
final, has been handed down against a member of the Fiscal Council;
d) by substitution, in the case of permanent inability to exercise the
mandate. Permanent inability to exercise the mandate shall be deemed to occur in
any circumstance creating an unavailability lasting more than 90 calendar days;
e) by death.
(2) The resignation shall be communicated in writing to the presidents of
the budget-finance committees of Parliament.
SECTION 4
Organisation and
functioning of the Fiscal
Council
Art. 59.
(1) The activities of the Fiscal Council shall be assisted by a Technical
Secretariat, organised within the Romanian Academy.
(2) The rules of organisation and functioning and the organisational chart
of the Technical Secretariat of the Fiscal Council shall be established by the
members of the Council.
Art. 60.
(1) The Fiscal Council shall establish its own budget, which shall
constitute an annex to the budget of the Romanian Academy.
(2) The budget required for functioning until the end of the first
calendar year shall be secured through allocations from the Government’s
contingency reserve fund.
(3) The Technical Secretariat of the Fiscal Council may not exceed 20
posts. The salary entitlements of the staff of the Technical Secretariat shall
be established by assimilation with the salary entitlements of the staff of the
Ministry of Finance.
(4) The financial management of the Fiscal Council shall be audited by the
Court of Accounts of Romania.
Art. 60¹.
(1) Once every 4 years, the Fiscal Council shall be subject to external
evaluations carried out by independent evaluators, who may be individual experts
or institutions with experience in the Fiscal Council’s field of activity.
(2) The financing of the evaluations referred to in paragraph (1) shall be
provided from the Fiscal Council’s budget, for which purpose the Fiscal Council
may access financing facilities offered by the European Union or other national
or international bodies.
(3) The first evaluation pursuant to paragraph (1) shall take place by the
end of 2027.
SECTION 5
Annual report of the Fiscal Council
Art. 61.
(1) By the end of June of each year, the Fiscal Council shall elaborate
and publish an annual report.
(2) The Fiscal Council’s annual report shall contain an analysis of the
conduct of fiscal policy in the preceding year compared to that approved through
the fiscal strategy and the annual budget and shall include, but not be limited
to:
a) an objective and comprehensive ex
post evaluation of the annual and multi-annual macroeconomic and budgetary
forecasts contained in the fiscal strategy and in the annual budget for the
budgetary year covered by the report, including, where appropriate, the
identification of a significant bias affecting macroeconomic forecasts over a
period of at least 4 consecutive years;
b) an evaluation of the objectives, targets and indicators established by
the fiscal strategy and the annual budget for the budgetary year covered by the
report;
c) an evaluation of the Government’s performance and of how the principles
and rules provided for in this Law were complied with in the preceding budgetary
year;
c¹) an ex-post evaluation of the
public spending review conducted pursuant to the provisions of Article 31¹ of
Law No 500/2002, as subsequently amended and supplemented;
d) the opinions and recommendations of the Fiscal Council with a view to
improving the fiscal policy in the current budgetary year, in accordance with
the principles and rules provided for in this Law.
CHAPTER XI
Responsibilities and sanctions
Art. 62.
Responsibilities of the Government:
a) it shall ensure that the Governance programme is fiscally sustainable
and compliant with the provisions of this Law;
b) it shall manage public finances and public resources in a manner
compliant with this Law, respecting the principles, objectives of fiscal
responsibility and fiscal rules, and shall ensure the fulfilment of the fiscal
strategy, including by proposing annual budgets in compliance with this Law and
the fiscal strategy;
c) the exercise of all attributions in a manner that ensures compliance
with this Law and the fiscal strategy, including through the issuance of
legislative acts in conformity with this Law.
Art. 63.
Responsibilities of the Ministry of Public Finance:
a) it shall monitor the application of the provisions of this Law
concerning the fiscal strategy and shall notify the Government of any deviation
observed;
b) it shall draw up the reports provided for in this Law;
c) it shall draw up the draft fiscal strategy;
d) it shall manage the annual budget process in order to ensure compliance
with this Law;
e) it shall monitor the financial and associated results recorded by
central and local public authorities against the provisions of this Law;
f) it shall issue norms, orders, instructions or notifications for the
application of the provisions of this Law.
Art. 64.
Responsibilities of the main authorising officers:
a) each main authorising officer shall ensure that all decisions falling
within its prerogatives are taken in conformity with the provisions of this Law,
including in conformity with the principles of fiscal responsibility, the fiscal
rules and the fiscal strategy;
b) it shall monitor the financial and non-financial performance of the
entities under its coordination, in order to ensure that the performance is
compliant with the provisions of this Law;
c) it shall provide the Ministry of Public Finance, in the format and
within the deadline requested by the Ministry, with the information necessary
for the elaboration of the fiscal strategy and shall be responsible for the
accuracy of the information provided;
d) it shall provide the Ministry of Public Finance, in the format and
within the deadline requested by the Ministry, with the information necessary
for the elaboration of the reports provided for in this Law, as well as any
other information relating to decisions and/or situations that may have an
effect on the fiscal and economic outlook, and shall be responsible for the
information provided.
Art. 65.
Violations of the provisions of this Law by members of the Government
shall give rise to their joint political liability with the other members, in
accordance with the provisions of the Romanian Constitution, as republished, and
of Law No 115/1999 on ministerial responsibility, as republished and
subsequently amended.
Art. 66.
(1) The main authorising officers of the state budget, the state social
security budget, the special funds budgets, local budgets and the heads of
public institutions or authorities are obliged to provide the Ministry of Public
Finance and/or the Fiscal Council, in the format and within the deadlines
requested by the latter, with the information necessary for the application of
this Law.
(2) Non-compliance with the provisions of paragraph (1) shall constitute a
contravention and shall be penalised with a fine of RON 5,000.
Art. 67.
(1) The authorising officers and the heads of majority state-owned
companies whose budgets form part of the general consolidated budget are obliged
to comply with the objectives of fiscal responsibility and the fiscal rules
provided for in Articles 5 to 18, 21, 23 to 25 and 30, the expenditures and
borrowing ceilings, and the budgetary balance targets specified in Article 31.
Any violation of these provisions shall result in one or more of the following
measures being taken:
a) presentation to the Government or, as the case may be, to the
deliberative bodies of local public authorities of a programme for reducing
expenditures or for restructuring and, as the case may be, the merger of public
institutions;
b) prohibition on issuing guarantees and on contracting or drawing on
loans, until the financial situation has been remedied and the approved
indicators have been met;
c) prohibition on increasing expenditures and borrowing ceilings in the
following budgetary year as a result of overruns of budgetary commitments in the
current year;
d) local authorities, self-financed public institutions and majority
state-owned economic entities whose budgets form part of the general
consolidated budget shall offset deficits from previous years through surpluses
recorded in the following budgetary year.
(2) The Fiscal Council shall assess in its annual reports compliance with
the provisions of this Law, making its findings public.
Art. 68.
The undertaking or payment of expenditures in excess of the established
quarterly ceilings and any conclusion of legal commitments obliging the State or
local authorities to incur expenditures in excess of the level approved under
the provisions of this Law shall constitute a contravention and shall be
penalised in accordance with the provisions of Article 69.
Art. 69.
(1) Non-compliance with the provisions of Article 16, Article 18(4),
Article 24 and Article 30(1) shall constitute a contravention and shall be
penalised, depending on the degree of culpability of the responsible persons,
with a fine of between RON 2,000 and RON 20,000 and recovery of the damage, as
the case may be. During the administrative investigation, the responsible
persons shall be suspended from their duties.
(2) The identification of contraventions for non-compliance with the
provisions of Articles 16 and 24, as well as the application of fines, shall be
carried out by the control bodies of the Court of Accounts of Romania.
(3) The identification of contraventions and the application of sanctions
for non-compliance with the provisions of Article 18(4) and Article 30(1) shall
be carried out by persons authorised by order of the Minister of Public Finance.
(4) Upon becoming final, the contravention sanction shall be published on
the website of the Ministry of Public Finance.
Art. 70.
The provisions of Government Ordinance No 2/2001 on the legal regime of
contraventions, approved with amendments and additions by Law No 180/2002, as
subsequently amended and supplemented, shall apply to the contraventions
provided for in Articles 68 and 69.
Art. 71.
Verification of compliance with the provisions of this Law shall also be
carried out by the Court of Accounts of Romania, in accordance with its powers
and attributions, established pursuant to the provisions of Law No 94/1992 on
the organisation and functioning of the Court of Accounts, as republished and
subsequently amended and supplemented, applying the sanctions provided for in
that law and in other legislative acts in force in the field of public finances.
CHAPTER XII
Final provisions
Art. 72.
(1) Within 45 days of the date of entry into force of this Law*), the
entities provided for in Article 55(2) shall transmit to the budget-finance
committees of Parliament the nominations for the persons who will be members of
the Fiscal Council.
*) Law No 69/2010 entered into force 3 days after the date of publication
in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, No 252 of 20 April 2010.
(2) Within at most 30 days of the transmission of the nominations pursuant
to the provisions of paragraph (1), the budget-finance committees of Parliament
shall organise hearings of the nominated persons following the vote of the
plenary of Parliament, and the presidents of the budget-finance committees shall
transmit to the President of the Romanian Academy the list of designated persons
who will be members of the Fiscal Council.