Declarații ale premierului Marcel Ciolacu la începutul ședinței de guvern

Marcel Ciolacu: Hello! First of all, I want to talk about Romanias accession to the Schengen area. After 13 years of waiting, we finally have a political agreement. It is to be put into practice shortly also at the official level, through a decision of the representatives of all the EU Member States. The lifting of air and maritime borders in March 2024 is a right won after long negotiations, but things will certainly not stop there. We will continue our efforts next year to fully join the Schengen area, and I am glad that all the signals we have received indicate that this goal is achievable. This is the first concrete result in all this 13-year period in which many spoke, commented or gave their opinion, but in fact achieved very little. This Cabinet will ensure that Romanians are truly treated as equal partners in the European Union, and our economy grows exponentially.
Secondly, I want to welcome todays vote in the Chamber of Deputies which rejected those toxic initiatives related to the autonomy of the - Szeklerland and cultural autonomy on ethnic criteria. Romanias sovereignty and territorial integrity are not negotiable. Those who cling to such revisionist themes, belonging to the past, do not understand that Romanias path is only forward. I am glad that the Parliament quickly closed this topic, which would only have been used by extremists without other ideas and solutions.
In todays government meeting we will approve the salary increase for teachers and education personnel, as we have agreed with the trade unions in the field. We will also allocate additional funds for the payment of merit, social and technology scholarships in private and denominational education. I kindly ask Minister Deca to present all these details to the press after the Cabinet meeting.
Today we will also regulate a large part of the salary inequities for the public employees in the country, such as the employees of the pension houses, ANOFMs [the National Agency for Employment], ITMs [Labour Inspectorates], ANPIS [National Agency for Payments and Social Inspection], who will be brought to the salary level of those in the central structures. The same will happen for the employees from DSP [Public Health Directorates], APIA {Agency for Payments in Agriculture], and INA {the National Institute of Administraion] and the county cultural directorates, but also for the officials from the prefecture offices, who will be brought up to the salary level of the Secretariat General of the Government. In fact, for the dignitaries from the central administration, the allowances will remain frozen next year as well.
In todays meeting, we will also decide on the extension of the RCA policy rate capping by another six months to the level of February 2023, to which only the inflation rate of a maximum of 6.8% adds. It is a necessary measure to prevent an excessive increase in prices with a significant impact on the economy.
Today, we also have good news for Romanian farmers. The Government will extend until June 30, 2024 the measures involving the export authorization system introduced by Ukraine for agricultural products and we will add two new products to this list, respectively flour and sugar. It is an important decision through which we will protect Romanian farmers and the jobs in this sector.
Finally, I want to congratulate the youngest member of the Cabinet, Minister Bogdan -Gruia for the unblocking of the governmental cloud project after three years. It is the most important project of the state in terms of the digital transformation of the Romanian administration, and we want to see it operational as of next year. Thank you.

Source: Gov