Mr. Presidents,
Ladies and gentlemen senators and deputies,
Distinguished guests,

I address today to the Parliament in order to submit for approval the modification of the structure and composition of the Government.

This step was determined by the concern of the Executive to increase the quality of the governing act, to eliminate certain dysfunctions in the activity of the ministries and to ensure the institutional compatibility that comes from the dynamics of the negotiations for Romania?s integration into the European Union.

Within this framework, I remind you that since December 2000- when the Parliament granted us the vote of confidence on the Programme and on the List of the Government- we are for the second time in front of the joined houses to request the approval of certain changes in the organizational and functional structure of the Executive.

As you know, in June 2003, there was a profound restructuring of the Government. Then, we reduced the number of ministries from 21 to 14, the tasks and institutional resources were redistributed and the National Authority for Control was created.

Today, we may say that the majority of those changes were positive for the improvement and for the efficiency of the governing act. For example, the National Authority for Control justified its creation. Its performances may be measured by the increase of the level of collection of the unpaid debts, the increase of the exigencies of the customs control or the reduction of the lack of fiscal discipline of the taxpayers.

The restructuring of last summer was very well received by the population of the country and by our European partners.

The results were felt, especially by: the continuation of the programme for the reduction of inflation, by the increase of the salary incomes, by the acceleration of the privatization, by the elimination of certain dysfunctions within the health system, or by certain progresses in the negotiations with the European Union.

The new restructuring represents an act of political responsibility of the Government in its action for the acceleration and for the finalization of the negotiations for the integration into the European Union this year, for the improvement and for the efficiency of the governmental activity.

At the same time, the restructuring of the Government that we now propose, is similar, generally, to the governmental structures from the countries members of the European Union, being compatible with the organization of the European Commission.

The constitutional and legal ground of the proposals of modification of the structure and composition of the present Government are article 85 alignment (3) of the Constitution of Romania, republished, articles 3 alignment (2), 37 and 53 alignment (4) of the Law on the organization and functioning of the Government of Romania and of the ministries, with ulterior modifications and completions.

Ladies and gentlemen parliamentarians,

Romania finds itself today in a new phase of its development. We, the Social Democratic Party, as responsible party, to whom the voters entrusted the governance, have the duty of redefining- for each phase- the priorities and means of their realization.

At the same time, we must permanently adapt the institutional structure to the exigencies of the moment.

Either we represent the leadership or the opposition, I think we all agree that 2004 is a very important year for the Romania?s EU Integration.

I consider that it is not the right time to turn this subject into a theme of electoral campagne in which political parties could get or loose points. If we keep on treating the European Integration in this electoral register Romania will certainly loose.

The external signals, but also our own internal analyses have shown us an option: either we deepen the reform process, especially in some key domains, like justice, public administration and fight against corruption, or we risk turning away from our essential objective, for this year and for the following period.

That is why I appreciate that the governmental reorganization answers to the challenge of the moment, but, at the same time, it makes part of a larger process of political and institutional modernization.

The new governmental structure will stimulate the negotiation process with the European Union.

In order to achieve the established objectives - to conclude the negotiation with the EU at the end of this year, as well as the Romania?s accession in 2007 - we need a very good organization and to focus our efforts in this direction.

We are coming before you with a strong team, able to deal with all the aspects of the integration process. I have in view the coordination of this process, the proper negotiations, but also the implementation of legislation and programs.

We wish to give a very clear political signal concerning our will to accelerate the changes occurred in the justice field.

This signal is important, not only from the external point of view, but especially for the citizens of this country, who are discontent - as the polls mention - by the quality of the justice act.

On the other hand and from the economic point of view, we are passing through a new phase.

Our macro-economic policies have produced important outcomes. They are reflected in the constant economic growth, the continuous decrease of the budgetary deficit and in the significant inflation decrease.

We are the first Government who succeeded in fulfilling an agreement with The International Monetary Fund, and who met the taken commitments. This thing has produced benefic effects within the economic field. At the same time, we have concluded on the whole, the privatization of the state enterprises.

Now it is the right time to very courageously tackle the reorganization of the autonomous companies and the public utilities privatization. Now it is the moment to pass from the economic growth to the economic development.

Therefore, we have considered that the economic sector needs - taking into account the phase objectives - a better coordination.

In the sphere of the large projects, we have in view the social projects. The social domain represents another dimension that we wish to have it strengthened by Government reorganization. When we are talking about social projects, we refer not only to the ones concerning the effective protection, but also to the quality of public services, to the administration?s working on the whole.

We want the reform in these domains to be much more rapid, so that the citizens should feel a positive impact over their daily life.

Dear colleagues,

This is the general conception that lay at the bases of the governmental reorganization, proposed today by us to the legislative forum.

I repeat: it is about finding the best solution - inclusively, regarding the institutions? architecture - in order to answer the challenges of this phase and to finalize the projects for which we have committed our political responsibility.

The major stake of this process is represented by a better governance that meets the citizens? expectatives, either if it is about integration, economic development, the living standard increase or about the public services quality.

The state ministers that we are proposing today to the Parliament, can be considered Project Managers. At the same time, we wanted to establish, concomitantly with the competences of each of them, and - as a novelty for one governance in Romania -, the performance criteria that have to be fulfilled by the state ministries.

I want to assure you that the future state ministries know very well what they have to do and that there is no kind of competences overlapping or prerogatives conflict.

The reorganization will turn the Government into a more efficient team, better orientated towards certain priorities, fact that is, at last, useful for the interest of all the citizens of this country.

I would like to give here an answer also to those who accuse an “over-burocratization” of the governmental act.

We are making this reorganization in order to solve the problems which Romania confronts with.

The leadership from the period 1997-2000 have repetitively modified the governments? structure, not to make it more efficient, but for giving satisfaction to the political algorithm.

We should remember the endless negotiations within the Coalition?s councils of political coordination, negotiations which used to have as a result the prevalence of this algorithm, up to the level of the decentralized services of the ministries.

The moment when the former or the present PNL - PD coalition was leading the country, they supported the need of some state ministries, not for the fact that they would have directly dealt with some issues, but because they had to reflect the Coalition?s algorithm.

The lack of mutual trust between the leading parties was so increased, so that it has been preferred the presence of state secretaries from different parties, within each ministry.

Where was then the concerning for the efficiency of the governance act? In what way occurred the fight against burocracy?

Therefore, I think it is important that everyone should take into account the problems to be solved, and when we are discussing about the reorganization of the present Government, to take into consideration especially the present conditions in which the Executive team has to work, depending on the assumed objectives.

We are changing the Executive structure for a more resolute action, in order to increase the state authority, while between 1997-2000 successive changes occurred, with more and more disastrous effects for the state authority, generating chaos in administration.

On the other hand, I want to state once again, very clearly, that the aim of this reorganization is not, as some opposite leaders say “the agitation of minds”, or the preparation for elections.

We are more interested in the reforms? acceleration and in the strengthening of the state authority, than in the electoral campagne.

Exactly for this reason, we consider it necessary to add new resources to the efforts made so far.

No political party, except ours, had the courage to do what we are doing now: to periodically introduce a new dynamics within the governing process.

In the last legislature, the governance changes have been chaotic, and some of them infringing the law. They represented the result of some major, political crises or of the hidden games within the parties.

We have introduced the practice of controlled changes, rationally orientated towards the increase of the governance efficiency. The four- year political cycle in transition countries, is obviously a very long one. Therefore, there are necessary periodical adaptations, taking into account the fact that the reality dynamics is much more rapid in transition countries than in the countries with stable structures and institutions.

We have proved that we have the power to determine changes, when our analyses denote their necessity.

We are convinced that people will appreciate this fundamental difference between us and our political adversaries.

Distinguished colleagues MPS,

Allow me to present in a accurate manner our proposals concerning the structure and the composition of the Government.

Firstly, three offices of Minister of State have been created:
- Minister of State in charge with the coordination of the economic issues( economy and commerce, finance, transportation, constructions and communications)
- A Minister of State that will coordinate the public services( administration and interior, health, education, environment, culture, labour)
- A Minister of State in charge with the national defence issues, European integration and justice)
-
State Minister coordinating economic issues - in charge with public politics? drawing up regarding: sustainable economic growth, making more effective foreign trade activity, speeding up utilities? privatisation, going on with inflation?s decrease process, setting up new employments. This State Minister will have as performance criterion to obtain, within this present year, from the European Union, the running market economy status as for Romania.

State Minister co-ordinating public services - in charge with increase in services? quality offered towards population. Services have to be diversified and competitive, and prices and tarifs must reflect economic reality, without being unreasonably risen. Performance criteria for this mentionned minister will be: more equitable re-arrangement, from a social viewpoint, of the economic growth and, respectively, speeding up administration?s reform.

State Minister co-ordinating national defense issues, European integration and justice - having as performance criteria the following: completing, together with his/her team, until the end of the current year, negotiations with the European Union and, respectively, relaunching reform within justice.

I would like to define more precisely that State Ministers? activity, as well as that carried on by other Ministers, is directly led by the Prime Minister.

On the other hand, there will be set up the Ministry of Environment and Management of Waters Supplies.

We have judged as necessary to take this measure for ensuring quickening of implementation of the government programs concerning this field. The environment?s quality is to represent a high issue of our society and, at the same time, a difficult point of negotiations in full progess with the EU. Concomitantly, we want to give a special priority to matters peculiar to management of waters suplies. It is enough to call to mind only some events regarding floods for undertstanding that we need a better coordination and a larger outlook, on long term, within this mentioned domain.

The setting up of the Ministry of Environment and Management of Water Supplies is also supported by the art. 135 of the revised Constitution, providing that the State must ensure “the renewal and protection of the environment, and maintaining the ecological balance.

We are also making a proposal regarding the reschuffling of the Agriculture Ministry, that also manages the SAPARD programme, consisting in setting up the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development.
We believe we need a comprehensive long-term rural development national strategy. The gaps existing between the rural and urban environments in terms of living standard, medical assistance, access to education, culture, public services are, at present, one of our society?s major problems.
The EU accession process provides us, through the community and budgetary funds, with an important opportunity to radically change the current state of things.

We have the duty to concentrate upon the Romanian village up-to-dating and renewing.

Thirdly, a deputy minister position in charge with the international financed programs? implementation and the community acquis monitoring shall be set in place.

We know that, not just once, this latter issue regarding the enforcement of the legislation and legal norms convened upon with the authorities in Brussels, has faced certain hardships within our institutional system. For this reason, we deemed as necessary for a Cabinet staff member to specifically manage this matter.

The proposed institutional solution shall enforce the Executive?s capacity for our programs keen monitoring. We participate in hundreds of international programs, we do hold the priority targets list that was agreed upon with the European institutions, but, we have to admit it, that we have had a poor monitoring and implementation capacity.

Fourthly, the Prime Minister?s Chancellery shall be set up. The Chancellery is to be a professional executive power structure, that shall not hold any political or elective attributions. The Head of the Chancellery shall exercise attributions exclusively drawn by the Prime Minister and shall effectively coordinate, at methodologically level, the public institutions, the authorities and agencies that are legally under the Prime Minister?s direct subordination.

Fifthly, the Authority for Privatization and Management of State Assets shall merge into the Authority for Bank Assets Capitalization.

The APAPS is merged with the AVAB. And the reason why that will happen is that the mass privatization is the already finalized, and now we have thousands of trials on the run, thousands of compensations and penalties to recoup from some of the investors who did not keep their promises. This is, in fact, the mission of the AVAB.

On the sixth place, taking into consideration the attention we give to the youth and the students, we decided that the National Agency for Youth to pass under the direct subordination of the Prime Minister.

We also decided to create the National Authority for Tourism, under the coordination of the Ministry for transports, Construction and Tourism.

Mrs. and Mr. Deputies and Senators,

I would like to mention the responsibilities regarding the European integration process we settled for the new structure of the Government.

The Prime Minister will have the political coordination and responsibility of the integration process.

The unitary coordination of the justice reform and of the Nato integration process, as well as the EU integration process, will come to the State Minister who will have that competence.

The Ministries and State Authorities are directly responsible for the integration of the particular sectors, the ones they deal with.

The Ministry for European Integration and the Chief Negotiator are responsible for the technical evolution of the negotiations, including position paper elaboration.

The Delegated Minister for the implementation control of the international financing programs will verify the respect of the engagements.

Of course that, no matter how good the Chief Negotiator or the Minister for European Integration may be, the targets given in the position papers can not be achieved only by the means of this two, alone.

This is the responsibility of each Ministry and each Authority, of each Minister. On this regard, we?ll strengthen the European integration departments of each Minister and of each central public Authority, and also the ones of the District?s Councils or the ones of the Prefects? offices.

As a conclusion, there will not be any superposition of responsibilities, as some malicious persons would say or some of the less-informed people, as concerns the way of harmonizing the responsibilities that come to each member of the team.

Dear Colleagues,

In the same time, we wish to strongly diminish the bureaucracy. Thus, we shall reduce the number of committees, counsels, authorities, agencies and other institutions. Let us not forget that during the past 15 years since the Revolution, have been created various organisms, committees and commissions have been created, but those that had no activity haven?t been closed - some of them created during the years ?60, ?70.

That is why, during the next period we shall realize a very sharp analysis of the entire institutional structure in order for us to settle the central and local administration on a new, rational and coherent basis. This process of evaluation has already begun and, within the next two weeks, we shall have a first answer about the situation of this inter-ministerial agencies, commissions, committees and so on. Together there are at least 300 structures of this kind which, surely, create an extremely burdened formula, that we try to set in accordance to the structures, to the practice guide of this field, existent at the level of the European Union.

I am convinced that the predicted measures shall have positive effects in which concerns:
- reform?s dynamic trend of the judicial force and giving more credibility of the judicial act;
- refreshment of anti-coruption fight;
- quality?s increase of public services;
- acceleration of european accession;
- real increase of the income and improvement life?s quality for the country?s citizens?;

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Within the next lines, I shall introduce you, in order for it to be aproved, our proposals regarding the changes within the structure and the composition of the Government.

I. Setting in place of some Ministries, due to measures of reorganising process, as following:

- Ministry of the Enviroment and Management of Waters Supplies;
- Ministry of Agriculture, Woods and Rural Development;
- Ministry of Education and Research.

It is about the need of aproval, from a constitutional view point, the new framework of these two Ministries, that have been changed in the field of their competences.

II. As a consequence of the changes within the Executive?s structure, several revocations regarding Government membership will be made public.

III. We propose to be appointed as Government members the following persons, taking into consideration the aspects previously mentioned:

· Dan Ioan Popescu - State Minister, Ministry of Economy and Commerce
· Ioan Rus - State Minister, Ministry of Administration and Interior
· Ioan Talpes - State Minister in charge with coordinating the activity within the defense, European integration and justice fields
· Speranta Maria Ianculescu - Minister of Environment and Management of Water Supplies
· Ilie Sarbu - Minister of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development
· Alexandru Athanasiu - Minister of Education and Research
· Victor Ponta - Deputy Minister in charge with controlling the implementation process regarding internationally financed programs and European Union?s acquis.

IV. I would like to inform you - but, in fact, this is an aspect I have already clarified - about the situation within the Ministry of Justice: I refer to a procedure developing simultaneously and that will lead to a change regarding the top position of the ministry. I hope that the proposal I presented to Mr. President Ion Iliescu, concerning Mr. Diaconescu?s position, will represent a new breeze for the activities within this field that, obviously, still needs improvement measures.

Dear colleagues,

Today, the Parliament has the mission to express its vote regarding the proposals I have made public, according to the provisions of the Romanian Constitution and of the Law on the Romanian Government?s and Ministries? setting up and working out.

I underline the fact that each candidate for the following positions- State Minister, Minister and Deputy Minister- was examined, within a joint session, by the permanent parliamentary commissions of the two Chambers that approved the proposals referring to the above- mentioned persons and their activity.

Dear colleagues, I kindly ask you to vote the Bill regarding the Parliamentary Resolution for approving the changes within the Government?s structure and organization.

Your vote will ratify a determined Government in a decisive year.

Thank you.