Dragoș Pîslaru defends salary law, warns pension indexation costs

Interim Labour Minister Dragoș Pîslaru told reporters that Romania’s new unified salary law will not reduce overall wages, although some bonuses will be cut or lowered. He said the government will travel to Brussels to negotiate with the European Commission on adjusting the NRRP milestone linked to the law, and outlined a forthcoming performance‑bonus system while noting tensions with trade unions and the risk of losing €770 million from the NRRP if the law is not fully implemented.

Pîslaru also addressed pension concerns, explaining that there are no funds to apply the statutory 12 % indexation to pensions on 1 January 2027. He stressed that the pension and social‑assistance budgets are separate from the salary‑increase budget and that any pension rise would have to stay below the 12 % level to avoid exceeding the state budget, which is already strained after large, loan‑financed pension hikes in 2024. The minister described recent austerity measures, including a freeze on some pension payments, as necessary to stabilize public finances.