Stiri	Stiri afaceri	Stiri companii	Evenimente de afaceri

Romania - last but one place in EU in GDP share earmarked for social assistance

Romania is on the last but one place in the European Union regarding the GDP share earmarked for social assistance, Senate President Mircea Geoana said on Tuesday during the works of the Senate's Labour Committee, also attended by Labour Minister Sebastian Lazaroiu.

Mircea Geoana brought to mind that according to the Constitution Romania was a social state, therefore he did not find it appropriate to reduce expenses in this sector in order to keep within a budget deficit.

'If you start your calculations from the idea that you have to reduce the social assistance expenses in order to keep within a budget deficit, we are being illogical, we are acting against the Constitution, which clearly states that Romania is a social state. We are the European state spending the least amounts of money on social aids per capita, the last in the European Union. We are on the last but one place in Europe regarding the GDP share earmarked for social assistance,' the Senate President maintained.

Mircea Geoana underscored that in his opinion the social assistance law initiated by the Government, which was also being debated by the Senate's Labour Committee, 'seems to be made more to gather savings to the budget and not to increase the quality of social services and aid for those who really need it.'

He pointed out that although some Senators of the Opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Opposition National Liberal Party (PNL) brought amendments, he doubted that the Opposition would support the draft's adoption within the deadline assumed by the Government, namely at the end of September.

'There are amendments that I hope should improve the law. We shall see what comes from the Committee, but the way in which the issue is planted, that we must do it by the end of September or else the IMF sanctions us, is not a serious thing. This suspicious haste of passing a law that affects millions of Romanians only because we have to check it somewhere on the foreign policy calendar is not serious. My feeling is that the Opposition will oppose,' Geoana said.

Senate President Mircea Geoana, as well as Labour Minister Sebastian Lazaroiu and representatives of trade unions and employers' associations Bogdan Hossu and Dumitru Costin, participated in the discussions on the social assistance law within the Senate's Labour Committee.

Sursa: http://www.actmedia.eu

Tags: social assistance labour geoana earmarked place share romania

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