Romanian Constitutional Court Upholds Local Administration Layoffs

On July 15, the Ombudsman notified the Constitutional Court regarding Government Emergency Ordinance 63/2010 which amends Law 273/2006 on public finance, citing breaches of certain provisions of the Constitution.

Opposition liberals had called on the Ombudsman to challenge the constitutionality of the emergency decree, saying that the ordinance infringes local autonomy principles.

The Romanian Government decided in early July to lay off about 60,000 public sector employees, of whom 54,000 are employees in local administration. Layoffs will take into account cost standards.

Romania, which turned to the International Monetary Fund and other lenders for financial aid to cope with the recession, had to enforce a series of austerity measures to try to boost revenue and reduce its ballooning deficit. The Government pledged to lay off 74,000 public staff by year-end and fire at least 15,000 more in 2011.