Over the weekend, the media speculated on the structure and composition of the future government of Romania, as it could be proposed by the PNL president Ludovic Orban. In recent weeks he insisted that the future executive should consist of no more than 17 ministries, which means that some of the existing ones will be merged, while others will disappear.
Hotnews.ro cites sources within the National Liberal Party, according to which the Ministry of Energy would be incorporated into the Ministry of Economy, together with the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry for the Business, Trade and Entrepreneurship. The measure would require the transfer to the Ministry of Finance of the state-owned shares in the monopolies for power – Transelectrica and natural gas – Transgaz.
The Ministry of Environment would also include the Ministry of Water and Forests. There are chances that the Ministry of Communications will continue to exist.
Most likely the un-official information published these days is to test the public reaction to the intentions of the future prime minister. A first comment, from former Chief of the Department of Energy Răzvan Nicolescu, is extremely critical. “I hope these rumors about the disappearance of the Ministry of Energy do not come true! The last thing the energy sector needs is the disappearance of the ministry. It would be a big mistake for this to happen. It could even be the fatal blow”, Răzvan Nicolescu wrote on Facebook.
Among the possible holders of the portfolio are given two names: Virgil Popescu, vice president of the Chamber Industries Committee, and Dan Vîlceanu, also a deputy in the Romanian Parliament. In an article published by profit.ro, Adi Moșoianu reminds that since December 2012, within the Ministry of Economy, a Department of Energy has been operating, and from 2013 it became an independent ministry. The Ministry of Energy had 5 ministers in five years (C. Niță, A. Gerea, V. Grigorescu, T. Petcu, A. Anton) and works with about 300 employees.
The priorities of the PNL government
- Appointment of a credible and professional European Commissioner
- Dismissal of the special section fir investigation of the magistrates
- Appointment of the chief prosecutors of the central prosecutors’ offices
- Repeal of measures with negative impact from GEO 114/2018
- A budget focused on investments, stopping the waste of money and avoiding the budget deficit
- Elimination of special pensions
- The abolition of PNDL
- Two rounds for local elections
- Annulment of the compensatory appeal
- Rejecting the amendments to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code