Interim Minister of Labor, Dragoş Pîslaru, regarding the pay law: “With an exercise of political will leading to the adoption of the pay law by the end of October after all, we would have new arguments to reduce the penalty”

Romania could recover part of the €770 million penalty imposed in the context of the unified pay reform if the law is adopted by the end of October, before the European Commission’s final assessment in November. Interim Labor Minister Dragoș Pîslaru said Thursday on Digi24 that the authorities had requested clarifications from the European Commission after missing the August 31 deadline.

The minister said that the amount that could be recovered cannot yet be estimated. He ruled out fully recovering the penalty, but said that Romania could obtain a reduction if it adopts a law that complies with all the commitments undertaken through the NRRP.

Pîslaru said that the draft is almost technically finalized, while the deadlock was mainly political and related to negotiations with the trade unions. The essential criteria include the wage bill and the equivalence of positions.

The minister hypothetically indicated a range between €10 million and €100 million, without presenting an official calculation. He emphasized that any amount recovered could finance investments through non-reimbursable funds.

"So this does not mean that we can, under any circumstances, recover the entire €770 million penalty, but with an exercise of political will leading to the adoption of the pay law by the end of October nevertheless, we would have new arguments to reduce the penalty, at least by part of it. I think this is important to mention, because if we remember when the political parties saw that they could not reach a consensus, or rather two parties, the PSD and UDMR, said they did not want to adopt it before August 31 because it was too short notice, they nevertheless said that they would be interested in the pay law, so here we are, the subject is being reopened," Labor Minister Dragoș Pîslaru said Thursday evening on Digi 24.