AmCham Warns of Speedy Decrease in Quality of Public Policy, Law-Making, Governance Romania

The organization said the business sector is confronted with concomitant changes through emergency ordinances, of legislation governing multiple strategic sectors for the economy, in a fast-forward mode that does not allow for observing all the necessary steps for ensuring the predictability, transparency and assessment of the economic and social impact of the adopted measures.

As the business community calls for the abrogation of emergency decree 114/2018, the government announces new legislative projects with widespread implications in the economy, deepening the uncertainty and the risks that Romania becomes more vulnerable to the tensions characterizing the global, regional and national economic context and to an economic cycle reaching maturity.

The announced measures include a draft emergency decree initiated by the consumer protection authority imposing fines of up to 4% of the economic operators' turnover, the inexplicable transfer of attributions from the tax agency to the National Commission for Strategy and Prognosis or pressures on independent institutions such as the Competition Council by imposing an unrealistic calendar for finalizing investigations or systematic attacks on the country's central bank.

Similar concerns are raised by the distortion of the normal pace of preparation, public consultation and approval by the Parliament of the state budget plan for 2019, AmCham said.

Such approach, disconnected from the standard practice and from the calendar set by the Public Finance Law for the adoption of the state budget, denies any opportunity to have a qualitative public consultation on the most important public policy tool for the allocation of resources for the current year, and an in-depth scrutiny of the allocation of public resources in the Parliament, it added.

“Meanwhile, Romanians who choose not to leave the country yet are hit by increasing prices following GEO 114/2018 and companies are giving up investments and expansion plans in favor of other markets. We call for a return to a transparent and constructive regulatory process that pursues long-term development goals rather than partisan, short-term interests, AmCham concluded.

AmCham Romania represents over 430 American, multinational and Romanian companies.

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