“I believe the agreement will have no impact whatsoever on the budget. Instead, it guarantees all Romanians will be leaving in a financially sound European Union that will no longer undergo economic crises. It guarantees they will live in an EU that not only experiences the bad consequences of globalization, in the form of salary slashes, but also an EU that is predictable and relies on a strong economic foundation”.

According to the Romanian head of state, the only way to push the EU agreement into law is to amend the Constitution. This is the only possibility to guarantee that no further changes can be brought to it by a parliamentary majority. The opposition however begs to differ. Social-Liberal leader Victor Ponta believes limiting the budget deficit to the 0.5% of the GDP should be done via a special law, to be adopted with the votes of one third of all MPs. Victor Pointa says amending the Constitution, which involves a referendum, is difficult and uncertain:

“We suggested something that can be done by March, namely to pass a law of a constitutional nature based on political consensus. At present, modifying the Constitution requires a referendum, not to mention the parliamentary proceeding. There are no guarantees that 50% of Romanians would say yes to a series of unpopular provisions”.

The opposition says the delicate financial climate calls for the creation of a crisis committee made up of representatives of the ruling coalition, the opposition and the National Bank in charge of finding quick solutions to reduce the deficits. The opposition also wants to nominate a technocratic government, capable of implementing measures and organising early elections. A new, legitimate Parliament could then amend the Constitution. This is not the first time the opposition proposes to set up an anti-crisis committee and organise early elections, proposals that have so far been dismissed by Traian Basescu. Against this background, talks are scheduled later this week between the president and the representatives of the parliamentary parties in Romania in attempt to reach a consensus.