Parliament adopted on Friday the 2026 draft state budget and the state social security budget.
The budget bill passed with 319 votes in favor, 104 against and one abstention, while the social security budget received 314 votes in favour, 105 against and 12 abstentions.
The Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) announced it had filed a constitutional challenge, meaning the laws will take effect only after a ruling from the Constitutional Court and subsequent promulgation by President Nicusor Dan.
Debates on the budget lasted a week, after the initial calendar was extended due to disagreements within the coalition over a Social Democratic Party (PSD) amendment to the social package.
On March 16, the select committees issued opinions on the budgets of each institution, followed by joint debates in the budget, finance and banks committees, initially scheduled to conclude on March 18. However, work stalled after PSD threatened to withhold support unless its amendment allocating 1.1 billion RON in one-off aid for low-income families with children, families with disabled children and pensioners was approved.
PSD and PNL representatives exchanged accusations, with the Social Democrats claiming that "PNL, USR and AUR have joined hands to impoverish the Romanian people", while the Liberals argued that PSD wanted to "blow up the deficit again, out of populism", and had attempted to ally with AUR.
Tensions also flared during committee debates, including an incident in which PSD deputy Adrian Caciu banged his fist on the table and shouted at Senate Budget Committee chair Gabriela Horga. He later apologized.
Coalition leaders met on the morning of March 19 and reached an agreement to adopt the PSD amendment while reducing expenses related to court-awarded payments for magistrates. The compromise was approved in committee and later in the plenary.
Plenary debates began Thursday night and continued until 3 a.m. The final vote was cast on Friday.
Two amendments previously rejected in the Budget & Finance committees were approved in plenary: one from PSD deputy Adrian Solomon to increase the budget of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs to add ten non-clerical positions, and another from AUR allocating 25,000 RON to the "Cluj for Life" Association.
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said after the vote that the 2026 budget reflects a new approach, that is fair to the citizens.
"All the reforms made so far - administrative reform, the special pension reform, spending cuts in public institutions - are reflected in this budget. It is also the safety belt that protects us from unwanted slippages. No one will be able to waste public finances after the effort made by Romanians in recent months. We are telling the truth and doing everything we can to balance the financial situation. We have the strength to set things right and put Romania on a fair and realistic footing," Bolojan declared.
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