Romania’s ongoing efforts to streamline its public management are facing sharp criticism from within its own political establishment. Former Prime Minister and current National Liberal Party (PNL) President Theodor Stolojan has publicly denounced the recently enacted administrative law, arguing it offers only superficial solutions to deep-seated systemic issues. Stolojan’s analysis, released amid broader economic pressures felt across Europe, warns that a focus on short-term budget cuts risks long-term instability and inefficiency within key Romanian institutions.
Former Prime Minister and National Liberal Party (PNL) President Theodor Stolojan has issued a sharp critique of the measures included in the country’s new administrative law. The debate over streamlining government comes as Romania, like many nations, grapples with economic pressures and the need for efficient public services.
Ilie Bolojan and Theodor Stolojan. PHOTO: Inquam Photos / George Călin
In an economic and administrative analysis, Stolojan warns that a blanket 10% cut in spending isn’t a genuine reform, but rather a quick fix to address the budget deficit while leaving major public systems vulnerable to political interests. He argues that the current approach prioritizes short-term solutions over long-term structural improvements.
“It’s Not a Reform, It’s a Stopgap Measure”
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The former Prime Minister explained that simply cutting budgets doesn’t address performance issues within institutions or curb wasteful spending.
“With administrative reform, things are off to a good start, in the sense that an agreement has been reached to reduce personnel costs by only 10%. So not the number of personnel, but the costs associated with personnel. Which is certainly very easy to implement, right? You take last year’s expenses and reduce them by 10%. (…) A reduction doesn’t equal reform. A reduction means a stopgap measure to reduce the budget deficit, just like freezing salaries, just like freezing pensions,” Stolojan stated.
Stolojan cautioned against the significant danger facing the Romanian economy through financing consumption with debt, a bill he says will be paid by citizens, not politicians.
“The fundamental problem with Romania is this: even in 2026, we will use about half of the budget deficit to finance current expenses, daily expenses that must be covered by normal budget revenues and not by loans. […] We are creating public debt that is starting to weigh more and more heavily on the shoulders of ordinary people, because it is not politicians who pay the public debt, it is the Romanian people,” Stolojan emphasized.
Form Over Substance: Justice and Education
Stolojan identifies a toxic pattern in Romanian administration: importing Western models that, when applied locally, lose their essence and become dysfunctional. He cites two major examples: the Justice system and Education.
Regarding the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM), Stolojan said:
“We created a system in the judiciary that, supposedly, should defend the independence of the judiciary (…). A CSM was created, supposedly, which is the guardian of the justice system. No, it solves all the problems and here is that system not working. (…) So we have a system adopted in form, but in substance it works as many things in Romania work, differently than they are intended.”
The situation is similar in Education, where the concept of “merit” has been diluted to the point of absurdity:
“We started with 200 million merit-based scholarships (…) and ended up with almost 5 billion lei in merit-based scholarships. So we have perverted a system that should have worked, to stimulate children with outstanding results. (…) It’s not normal to have such a reversal of fortune when you talk about merit scholarships, where 20 out of 30 children have merit scholarships in a class. It’s the idea of form without substance,” Stolojan underlined.
Waste in Healthcare
Stolojan’s criticism also extends to the lack of correlation between investment and human resources. He points to expensive medical equipment sitting unused, highlighting that the budgetary mindset remains outdated.
“I don’t know if you’ve heard the Minister of Health’s statement after the New Year, who said the following: we have hospitals where we have purchased expensive magnetic resonance equipment, but the people in the hospital don’t have a radiologist, they don’t have anyone to use the equipment. That’s an unproductive expense, a waste of resources. […] In our case, the mentality, unfortunately, remains as it was in socialism. That is, to obtain as much money as possible from the budget for all public sectors and to manage to spend all the money by the end of the year,” Stolojan explained.
“Transpolitical Clique” Blocks Administrative Reform
According to the former PNL President, despite official statements, administrative and territorial reform is blocked by a tacit alliance between parties at the local level.
“It’s the most difficult reform: public administration. Look at this transpolitical clique, which opposes it and which is transpolitical, I repeat, PNL, PSD, USR. One thing is what they declare rhetorically, that they want administrative and territorial reform. Does any party not want it? No. But it doesn’t happen, because it bothers this entire trans-party political clique, locally and, of course, also at the central level,” Stolojan noted.
In conclusion, Stolojan points out that, despite pockets of performance (such as SMURD, the Passport Service, and Vehicle Registration), major state-owned companies (CFR, Tarom, Metrorex) remain unreformed black holes, regardless of who is put in charge.
“Not to mention the lady (ed. – Oana Gheorghiu) put in charge of coordinating one of the most difficult reforms, that of state-owned companies. Was she amazing with that children’s hospital? Yes. Has she reformed CFR Calatori? CFR Marfa? Has she reformed TAROM? Has she reformed Metrorex? Has she reformed Complexul Energetic Oltenia?” Stolojan concluded.
