ROMANIA - THE COUNTRY OF THINGS DONE RIGHT The civil society, invited to attend the debates on the state budget after it had already been approved

The Government yesterday approved the draft law concerning the 2016 public budget, and the document is set to get to the Parliament for debate.

Even though the new Government had announced that, for the first time, it wants to consult with citizens on the draft budget for next year, the meeting with the "civil society" took place a few hours after the Cioloş government had already approved the budget for 2016.

The Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue on Monday sent an announcement inviting the citizens to participate in the public debate for the draft budget for 2016, and before the deadline (Tuesday, 16:00), the registration form had been filled out by by 170 people, of which 73 citizens, 13 representatives of the public institutions and 84 representatives of NGOs or companies.

According to data provided by the Ministry, 123 people have announced their intention to participate in the public debate, but yesterday's meeting, organized in the Parliament's Palace, was held after the draft budget had already been approved by the Government. The spokesperson of the Executive, Dan Suciu, said however, that the participants in that debate have already sent proposals, some of them being included in the draft budget.

Also, journalists have not been allowed to participate in the debate (ed. note: they were allowed to be present in the room without transmitting information), and the Ministry of Public Consultation and Dialogue offered a "generous" period of five minutes "for image-getting opportunities in the beginning of the event", as well as the option for the press to get statements from the participants at the end of the debate, after 16:00. Even though the TV networks were not allowed to broadcast live, the Government broadcasted the public debate on the web.

The new Government's lack of when it comes to the draft budget has also been criticized in Monday's session of the Social Dialog Commission of the Finance Ministry. The participants in the debates of the Commission have complained that the representatives of the Ministry of Public Finance were late in sending in the information materials concerning the law of ext year's budget.

Bogdan Hossu, the president of the C.N.S. Cartel Alfa union has said that his union received the materials (ed. note: that they needed to review before the meeting) late, less than 24 hours before the summoning of the Social Dialog Commission.

In turn, Sabin Rusu, the secretary general of the Confederation of Democratic Unions in Romania (CSDR) and Romania's representative on the Economic and Social Committee, stressed the need for changing the way the meetings of the Social Dialog Commission take place.

"I think we should redesign the way these commissions work if we truly want a real and transparent social dialogue, and we should be able to approach and support our point of view as a pertinent document that would contribute to this social dialogue", Mr. Rusu said at the time.

Furthermore, Mihai Ionescu, the secretary general of the Romanian National Association of Exporters and Importers (ANEIR), criticized the working mechanism of the Social Dialogue Commission of the Ministry of Public Finance, saying it was not the first time when such situations where the Ministry of Public Finance was late in sending in materials.