Commission Report 2002 (Romania)

• Progress since the last Regular Report
• Overall assessment
• Conclusion

Chapter 13: Social policy and employment

Progress since the last Regular Report

Some progress has been made since the last Regular Report.

With regard to labour law, no major legislative development can be recorded pending the adoption of the new Labour Code.

In the field of equal treatment for women and men, a law on Equal Opportunities and Treatment for Women and Men was adopted in May 2002. The law aims to eliminate direct and indirect discrimination on the basis of gender and forbids it in the fields of employment, education, health, culture, information and senior management positions. The law also establishes a mechanism for resolving disputes. The penal code was modified to introduce the specific crime of sexual harassment. No progress was made with regard to allocation of funds for the implementation of the National Plan for Equal Opportunities.

In the area of health and safety at work, Parliament adopted a law on insurance against accidents in the workplace and professional diseases in May 2002. According to the law, insurance is mandatory for all employers and the contribution to the national insurance fund is made proportional to the risks existing in a given enterprise. The levels of staffing in central and local labour inspectorates increased over the reporting period.

In the area of social dialogue, the majority of labour conflicts have been resolved by conciliation procedures in the framework of the Law on Labour Conflicts since it entered into force in January 2002. In January 2002 the Government concluded a Social Pact with the majority of trade unions. A further agreement was reached in June 2002 with the two unions that had not signed the original agreement. The difficulty in concluding a single agreement reflects a worsening relationship between the Government and the trade unions. The Economic and Social Council played a more significant role as an advisor on legislative acts - although autonomous sectoral social dialogue continues to be weak and is mainly limited to the public-sector and to large enterprises.

On public health, a ministerial order on reorganising the national network for surveillance and control of communicable diseases was adopted in March 2002. It defines the responsibilities of the bodies involved in the national surveillance of communicable diseases, clarifies the information flow, and prioritises the diseases for surveillance in line with EC provisions (although limited laboratory capacity means that not all diseases on the EC priority list are yet covered). Legislation on combating the effects of the use of tobacco products was adopted in June 2002.

Romania has jointly with the European Commission continued the work on an Employment Policy Review, with a view to finalising the Joint Assessment on Employment Policy Priorities (JAP). The purpose is to examine the progress made by Romania in adapting its employment system for preparing its future participation in the European Employment Strategy after accession. This document, in its final stage, sets out the key priorities and tasks in the field of labour market for the pre-accession period. The situation on the labour market seems to have improved slightly and at 6.6% in 2001 the unemployment rate stopped rising. Unemployment was 7% amongst men and 6% amongst women. Despite the overall reduction in unemployment, levels of long term unemployment remain high.

A law on Unemployment Insurance and Employment Stimulation was adopted and entered into force in March 2002. The law aims to develop active measures for fighting and preventing unemployment. In August 2002, the Government approved the National Action Plan for Employment.

As regards the future establishment of the European Social Fund (ESF), the Government designated the Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity as the National Authority for the overall co-ordination of ESF-type activities and as the Managing Authority for the ESF after accession. The National Agency for Employment was designated as the paying authority.

As a follow-up to the Gothenburg European Council, where the EU invited the candidate countries to translate the EU objectives into their national policies, the Commission and Romania have initiated a joint co-operation exercise to prepare for future participation in the EU social inclusion process after accession. This exercise consists of joint identification of the social exclusion challenges and relevant policy responses. The Statistical Office of Romania co-operates with Eurostat to produce data on poverty and social exclusion. Preliminary figures suggest that the overall income disparities seem to be rather moderate with a relatively high poverty rate after social transfers of 17%, and a particularly high risk of poverty for members of the Roma community.

Fighting social exclusion and poverty is a Government priority and intense legislative activity characterised the reporting period. In December 2001, a law on the National Assistance System was adopted. The law aims at establishing a consistent and unified national system, defining the legal framework for providing social services and making local communities responsible for people in difficulty. In February 2002, the law on employment insurance and employment stimulation was adopted, which sets out measures for preventing unemployment and combating its social outcomes, including for persons with disabilities. In July 2002 the Government decided to set up an inter-ministerial commission concerning social assistance and adopted a Social Programme.

The National Plan on Poverty Prevention and Social Inclusion Promotion was adopted in July 2002. The Law on Preventing and Combating Social Exclusion was adopted as one of the first instruments for implementing this Plan. The Law aims at guaranteeing access of marginalised people, especially the young and Roma, to basic rights: employment, proper housing, health assistance, and education.

A national strategy on special protection and social integration of disabled persons was drawn up as a first step of a true reform of the policy in favour of disabled persons, including closure and/or restructuring of old-type residential institutions. In December 2001, the Government issued an emergency ordinance decreasing the disabled persons' contribution to the Special Solidarity Fund and delegating financial responsibility to local authorities.

As regards other areas of social protection, preparatory steps have been taken to press ahead with the pension reform (Government Decisions on pensions recorrelation and on indexation of pensions, setting-up of an inter-ministerial group for creating a single administrative structure in charge of collection, audit, and contribution to the social insurance budget).

With respect to anti-discrimination, a law approving the 2000 Government Ordinance on Preventing and Punishing all Forms of Discrimination entered in force in January 2002. The National Council for Combating Discrimination was established in August 2002. These are positive developments although amendments to the law will be needed in order to fully conform with the acquis. (See Political criteria - 1.2 Human rights and the protection of minorities).

Overall assessment

As regards labour law, Romania still needs to adopt a revised Labour Code. This would represent an important step towards ensuring full alignment with the Community acquis.

Regarding equal treatment for women and men, further efforts are needed to align Romanian legislation with regard to burden of proof, protection of the rights of pregnant women, and free access to night work.

Regarding health and safety at work, despite progress with legal transposition, considerable work remains to be done with respect to the effective implementation of the acquis. Particular attention should be paid to improving co-operation between the Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity and the Ministry of Health and Family. The capacity of the Labour Inspectorate should also be improved.

The framework for establishing a national surveillance system for communicable diseases was adopted but the system needs to be substantially reorganised before complying with the acquis. A well functioning information system needs to be put in place, laboratory capacity should be reinforced, laboratory standards need to be brought up to EC levels, and staff training should be intensified. Current tobacco legislation is partially aligned with the acquis, but it still needs to be completed. Draft legislation transposing the new EC Directive needs to be adopted and implemented.

Basic health indicators reflect the low level of public health in Romania and infant mortality remains high while life expectancy is low. The incidence of some communicable diseases also gives rise to concern. The 2002 budget allocation is limited and a lack of resources continues to limit the quality of and equal access to health services. The Ministry of Health and Family is undergoing continuous organisational changes, which inevitably have a negative impact on policy implementation. The recommendations made in the 2001 Regular Report remain valid and Romania should place greater emphasis on strategic planning of human and financial resources in order to make efficient use of scarce public funds.

Despite social dialogue with regard to conflict resolution and the involvement of the Economic and Social Council in legislative consultations, autonomous social dialogue should be actively promoted, especially at the sectoral level and in small and medium sized enterprises, in order to improve its coverage (both in terms of percentage of the labour force and of enterprises covered by collective agreements). Further steps should be taken to strengthen the administrative capacity of the social partners, and in particular private employers. The tripartite social dialogue should be extended to new policy areas including employment and social inclusion.

Regarding employment policy, the Joint Assessment of the Employment Policy Priorities of Romania (JAP) will represent an important element in preparing the Romanian employment system for participation in the European Employment Strategy after accession. It is therefore important to ensure effective monitoring of the phasing-in of the commitments contained in the JAP. The reform of vocational education needs to be completed and adapted to the long-term needs of the labour market. Ensuring access to education for everybody and in particular for minority groups is of high priority. The Law on Unemployment Insurance and Employment Stimulation will represent a significant step forward and should be treated as a priority. Employment policies need to be focused on active and preventive measures that contribute to the transformation of the economy With regard to preparation for Structural Funds, the early designation of the bodies responsible for ESF management will only make sense if training and institution-building measures are undertaken in order to define, finance and efficiently implement ESF-type measures.

A national integrated strategy on promoting social inclusion, taking into account the EU objectives, needs to be developed. As poverty and social exclusion are multidimensional by nature, it is important to promote an integrated approach mobilising various governmental bodies and all relevant stakeholders in the process. It is also crucial to improve and develop social statistics on poverty and social exclusion in line with agreed EU indicators.

As regards other areas of social protection, sustained efforts are required to clarify the institutional responsibilities of all bodies and authorities concerned. The precarious state of social protection in Romania is mainly due to the economic situation, but is also caused by the weak administrative capacity to collect contributions to the social insurance funds, the lack of appropriately trained personnel, and the lack of co-operation between ministries. At the local level, the distribution of responsibilities is still unclear and fragmented and local structures are understaffed. Difficulties occur in implementation of the legislation due to lack of a common methodology and a lack of expertise. A common approach to social inclusion should urgently be developed at national level.

The success of recent legislative measures will depend upon the Government`s ability and to build the required administrative capacity, both at national and local level, and to allocate sufficient and predictable budgetary resources.

Although the adoption of the law on the prevention of all forms of discrimination is a positive step, further efforts are needed to ensure alignment with the acquis on anti-discrimination, notably with regard to indirect discrimination and the burden of proof.

Conclusion

In its 1997 Opinion, the Commission concluded that Romania would need to make very considerable progress in all areas of social policy, with regard to both the approximation of laws and the strengthening of enforcement structures. Specific issues requiring attention included health and safety at work, public health, and labour market and employment policy.

Since the Opinion, Romania has made good progress in aligning with the acquis, especially over the last two years. Legislative progress has been particularly good with regard to the equal treatment of men and women, social assistance and social inclusion, and anti-discrimination. Despite these developments, additional legislative efforts are needed. Institutional mechanisms and budgetary means for implementing the new legislation also need to be developed.

Negotiations on this chapter have been provisionally closed. Romania has not requested any transitional arrangements. Romania is generally meeting the commitments it made in the accession negotiations in this field.

Romania should focus further efforts on the adoption of a new labour code, continued transposition and implementation of the health and safety at work acquis, further promotion of social inclusion, fully aligning anti-discrimination legislation with the acquis, protecting the rights of pregnant women, and providing free access to night work. Further work is also needed with regard to inter-institutional co-operation, decentralising social responsibilities to the local level, budgetary organisation, ensuring adequate staff numbers, and effective training of personnel.

---

Next: Chapter 14: Energy
Up: 3.1. The chapters of the
Previous: Chapter 12: Statistics