Grindeanu: territorial-administrative reform is coming!

Sorin Grindeanu is proposing the merger of smaller local administrations, a reduction in the number of government agencies, and the restructuring or dissolution of loss-making or unjustifiably maintained state companies. The PSD chairman announced on Monday, October 26, that he will ask Prime Minister Luca Niculescu for two separate reform packages to be adopted through the government's assumption of responsibility before parliament.

The territorial-administrative overhaul would be based on merging smaller local administrations, while, according to Grindeanu's promise, public services provided to residents would be preserved. On the PSD's side, the preparatory work would be coordinated by MEP Dragoș Benea, though no specifics have yet been given regarding the number of local administrations affected or the detailed criteria for their selection. Romania currently has more than 3,200 communal and municipal administrations, including many sparsely populated communes.

According to a report by HotNews, in response to a journalist's question Grindeanu also indicated that he is not thinking in terms of voluntary mergers, and that when setting the criteria, factors other than population size would also be taken into account. He named the reduction of public spending and the improvement of services as the goals of the reform, adding that ideally the territorial overhaul would be launched already this year, before the adoption of next year's budget, so that its effects could also be factored in when drafting the budget.

The second package would target the central state apparatus: agencies would be reduced and merged, while loss-making state companies or those that have lost their reason for existing would be restructured or dissolved. The PSD coordinator for this would be Deputy Prime Minister Marian Neacșu. For both packages, Grindeanu expects the government to assume responsibility before parliament by next March at the latest, and alongside the two reforms, he named the 2027 budget as the defining task of the period ahead.

The PSD chairman also demanded that the country's actual financial situation be made public as soon as possible, arguing that the starting point must be clearly visible before any changes are made. He described Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare as well-suited to carry this out, since his presence ensures continuity at the ministry. Grindeanu also renewed his criticism of the austerity policy pursued by former Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, claiming that the PSD does not want to complain about the difficult legacy it inherited, but rather wants to restore order in the wake of the austerity measures.

Ugar