Romania leads CEE region in number of legislative changes

Romania leads CEE region in number of legislative changes
By bne IntelliNews November 21, 2016

Romania leads the Central and Eastern Europe region in terms of the number of laws passed in the 12 month period ending August 2016, according to a report by Grayling CEE Public Affairs Practice Group. Out of the 1,098 acts passed in the region between August 2015 and August 2016, 483 had a direct impact on business.

Romania is due to hold general elections on December 11 and a number of bills have been approved by MPs in a bid to increase their popularity.

The report scrutinised laws passed in six CEE countries - Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia - between August 2015 and August this year.

The most active countries of the region were Romania, with 299 acts passed, Poland with 227 and Hungary with 186. However, the total number of acts passed increased by only 5.5% on the year in the 12-month period. 

“The number of acts submitted by MPs in Romania increased for the second year in a row. The main reason is the approaching end of the parliamentary term. Likewise, the new electoral law will reduce the number of MPs in the next parliament, which stimulates lawmakers to make an impression in an attempt to secure eligible seats on their party’s candidate list,” according to the Grayling AcTrend Report 2016.

Romania is one of the countries with very active MPs in the period under review, with 27% of the adopted acts being submitted by them. Romania is followed by Bulgaria with a 25% share.

The legislative changes generated significant media coverage in Romania. The laws which generated most media buzz were the new fiscal code introducing significant tax cuts, the debt discharge law and new provisions to increase wages for state employees, the report showed.

“The increased media attention is partly due to the fact that Romania is approaching general elections. Additionally, the current technocratic government, appointed in November 2015, has been more transparent in its decision-making, publicly defending its position on major legislative initiatives, which has contributed to the increased media coverage,” according to the report. 

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