Senate amends draft measures for state of alert as Parliament approves state of alert nationwide

The Senate on Tuesday passed a bill from the government that includes measures for the state of alert that will replace the coronavirus state of emergency in Romania, after amending it in a plenary session, so that Parliament may approve the state of alert nationwide.

The bill, which received a positive report with amendments from the Judiciary Committee, was adopted 111 to 8 and 15 abstentions.

"In order to prevent and combat the effects of a pandemic, epidemic or epizootic, this law regulates the state of alert, the areas covered, the applicable measures and procedures and the responsible public authorities," the Senate has established.

According to the bill as amended by the Senate, the state of alert is established on the entire territory of the country or just on the territory of some administrative units by the government for 30 days and can be extended, for a maximum of 30 days by a governmental decision at the proposal of the interior minister.

"When the state of alert is established throughout the country, the measure shall be conditional upon the approval of Parliament. Parliament shall rule in a joint session of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies within 5 days of the date of the request for approval. If Parliament rejects the request for approval, the state of alert shall cease immediately," reads the Senate-amended bill.