Access Investments-European Union- ROMANIA

The Romanian Government has assumed responsibility in front of Parliament on the modifications brought to the Labor Code, a draft that could make the labor market more flexible and lead to the creation of nearly 90,000 jobs, according to estimates of the Foreign Investors Council, the association that put together the draft most of whose provisions are to be found in the document that reached Parliament. The Government only accepted 8 amendments of the 144 submitted by the MPs, and the opposition, which saw most of its amendments rejected, has submitted a censure motion which, if passed (a rather unlikely event under the current circumstances), would bring the Government down. The motion is voted on next week. On the other hand, the trade unions, the parliamentary opposition (with members of PSD - Social Democratic Party - being the most vehement) and, unexpectedly, part of the employers' associations, are challenging these modifications. Romania urgently needs to have its labor legislation modified in order to combat the increase in the number of the unemployed by creating more fixed term contract jobs.