Political Report on the Newly Appointed Cabinet

November 17, 2015

ISSUE MONITORING A document prepared by:

The Centre for Public Policies Monitoring

The new Cabinet that received the vote of confidence earlier today is thought to be a bridge between the current political crisis and the 2016 general elections. Born out of major demonstrations by protesters angered by the lethargy in the Government, the new Cabinet has come up with a Governing Program that aims to include the civil society in the legislative process, as well as new rules for the forthcoming elections. Yet another pressing issue concerns the approval of the budget for 2016, while balancing the lowered taxes and higher wages for civil servants. With PSD-ALDE pushing for either maintaining or lowering the taxation level, as well as for continuing the policies initiated by former PM Victor Ponta in order to secure a 4.1% economic growth level in 2016, recently appointed Prime Minister Dacian Cioloș and his new Cabinet have to decide whether to maintain the current status-quo or to implement reforms, within a limited timeframe. According to the Governing Plan, Dacian Cioloș plans to create a dialogue between the Government on the one hand, and the civil society and the business environment on the other hand, especially when it comes to matters such as drafting a 10-year national investment plan. Another point of interest is the decentralization and reorganization of the public administration, which is to be run according to European Commission standards. Healthcare, agriculture and education are key priorities for the new Government. The Ministry of Health will coordinate the reform of the healthcare system, with a focus on education and prevention, while encouraging the development of private health insurance policies. The Ministry of Agriculture will supervise the "efficient implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy", while the Ministry of Education will initiate the curricular reform, as well as correlate the education strategy to the needs of the market. Dacian Cioloș has proposed an economically liberal, business-oriented Government, which aims at "encouraging a culture of labor and individual and social responsibility." The higher stake for the new Cabinet is to lay down the foundations for structural reforms to be continued after 2016. The limited timeframe may however hinder reforms, especially if the Government does not get the support of the MPs, the same politicians who think of the Government as being formed by the ruling party.

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List of Ministers

Prime Minister — Dacian Cioloș

Dacian Cioloș graduated from the Horticulture Faculty of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (USAMV) in Cluj in 1994 and then obtained his diploma in Advanced Agronomy, specializing in "Systems of Rural Production and Development," from the Ecole Nationale Superieure Agronomique, ENSA, in Rennes, France. Ciolos participated in courses on agriculture and trade organized by the World Bank Institute and University Roma III (October 2005). Dacian Ciolos is not affiliated with any political party. During his term as EU commissioner, Cioloș widely perceived as being influenced by France. Many called him “the second French Commissioner” in the Barroso team. Cioloș briefly worked as Agriculture Minister from October 2007 to December 2008 in the cabinet of Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, a liberal politician. Cioloș didn’t spend much time in public office in . Before becoming Commissioner in 2009, he worked for the European Commission's delegation to Romania, and before that, as a scholar on internships in France. The former Commissioner is perceived as politically independent, although in the Barroso Commission, he was considered to be affiliated with the centre-right European Peoples’ Party (EPP). The reason is that he was nominated by Romania's then-President, Traian Băsescu, an EPP-affiliated politician.

Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economy, Trade, Relations with Business Environment — Costin Grigore Borc

Costin Grigore Borc is a graduate of the Energetics Faculty, Hydro-energetics major (1989), of the Polytechnic University of , an institution where he also graduated a master's course. He completed doctoral studies in economy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2000). He worked for 15 years in the structures of French company Lafarge, starting from the Project Manager position within Lafarge North America (2000-2001). In August 2015, he has become Managing Director of CRH Romania — the new name of the Lafarge company.

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Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Regional Development and Public Administration — Vasile Dâncu

Vasile Dâncu has graduated the History and Philosophy Faculty of Cluj and has obtained a Ph.D. in Sociology in 2008. He was a Minister for Public Information (December 28, 2000 — June 19, 2003), in the Adrian Nastase Government. In 2003, following governmental restructuring, when the Ministry for Public Information was transformed into the Agency for Governmental Strategy, he remained at the helm, until 2004. He is a founding member of the Romanian Association for Evaluation and Strategy — ARES, a member of the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research, and he coordinates the Sociology of Communication, Knowledge and Information Technology Department of the Romanian Sociologists' Society.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development — Achim Irimescu Achim Irimescu (57) graduated from the Car-Building Technologies Faculty of the Bucharest Polytechnic University in 1983 and holds a Ph.D. in Economy. He has taken part in several specialized courses and internships: Common Agricultural Policy in Greece, a three-month internship at the European Commission — Directorate General Agriculture and Rural Development (1995); company management — course organized by the Agriculture Ministry through the PHARE program (1998); studied English and French at the Ferdinand Cocq Institute in (2000). In the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), he was head of service, superior adviser (Aug. 1990 — Nov. 1998) and State Secretary (May 2012 — February 2014). He has occupied several positions in European authorities: minister-adviser, head of Agriculture service of the Romanian permanent mission to the EU, as well as Romania's representative in the Special Committee on Agriculture of the . European funds absorption is the major issue of his term, as Irimescu warned, Romania risks disengaging EUR 1 billion on rural development and almost 40% of the fishing funds. He highlighted that the complicated procedures for accessing EU funds is the main cause slowing down the absorption process. You can access his CV here.

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Minister of Public Finances — Anca Dragu Paliu (42) is an economist in the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission since 2013. Dragu was also an economist with the National Bank of Romania between 1996 and 2001 and an economist with the IMF Bucharest Bureau since 2001. She is 42 and she graduated the Economic Studies Academy (ASE) in Bucharest. She has completed a master's degree in Public Policies and European Institutions at the Bucharest National School for Political and Administrative Studies (SNSPA) (2005-2007). Anca Dana Dragu Paliu is expected to have a difficult couple of months of her term as she has to supervise the creation of a balanced budget while dealing with the previous Government's slashing taxes and rising the civil servants' wages. Her main objectives are: completing the budget, the increase of Romanian economy's potential, growth of public investments, as well as an improvement of the tax revenue collection by speeding up the informatization process You can access Anca Dragu Paliu's CV here.

Minister of Health — Patriciu Achimas-Cadariu (39 years old) is the director of the Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuță Oncological Institute of Cluj Napoca. In parallel with his medical activity, he followed an academic path as well, becoming an assistant professor in 2004 and a lecturer in 2010, at the Faculty of Medicine of the Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Cluj Napoca. He also taught, through the Erasmus programme, at Charite — Universitatsmedizin, the largest university hospital in Berlin, associated with the Humboldt University and Freie Universität Berlin. During the hearings, Achimaș-Cadariu assured the Committee members of his credentials and experience with the 'real healthcare system'. On the Healthcare Law he stated that there are three key dimensions: school medicine, community medicine and malpractice. "It takes time. I am not mentioning any deadlines, yet it cannot be done before next year's second half." You can access Patriciu Achimas-Cadariu's CV here.

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Minister of Internal Affairs- Petre Tobă Petre Tobă (51) has graduated the Construction Equipment Faculty of the Bucharest Institute for Constructions (1989) and the Law School of the Alexandru Ioan Cuza Police Academy (2000), and holds a PhD in military science and information (2011) at the Carol I National Defence University. Since May 2012, he has held the position of General Inspector of the Romanian Police. Since March 11, 2015, General Quaestor Petre Toba also holds the rank of State Secretary, after President has promulgated the law that grants this status to the head of the Romanian Police, the appointment to the position being made by the Prime Minister. The top priority of the Ministry he is heading is "the increase of citizens' security" given the current European context. You can access Petre Tobă's CV here.

Minister of Education and Scientific Research – Adrian Curaj Adrian Curaj (57) has graduated from the Polytechnic University in Bucharest in 1983, being granted a Bachelor of Engineering diploma in the field of Electronics and Telecommunications. In 1998 he defended his Ph.D. thesis with the title "Automatic Systems" at the same university. He is a coordinator and/or expert in several research-development projects funded by the World Bank, UNESCO, UNIDO, ETF (European Training Foundation) and the European Commission, in matters relating to higher education, and policies for science and innovation. Presently, he is a member of Romania's National Commission for UNESCO, a member of the ARCOR — the Romanian Association for the Club of Rome, a member in the Board of Directors of the US Fulbright Commission in Romania, being Romania's representative in the Bologna Follow-Up Group. The main policy on Curaj's agenda is to correlate research, innovation and entrepreneurship "that is Romania's chance of becoming a developed country." In order to come up with a realistic plan, Curaj will present his detailed strategy in December, after the 2016 budget is voted. You can access Adrian Curaj's CV here.

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Minister of Foreign Affairs — Lazăr Comănescu

Comănescu has graduated from the Faculty of Foreign Trade of the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (1972). He has completed the course titled "Contemporary French and civilization" at the Universite Paris-Sorbonne (1973). In 1982 he was granted a doctorate in international economic relations by the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (ASE). On April 14, 2008, Lazăr Comănescu was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs (April 15 — December 22, 2008) in the Tariceanu cabinet, taking over office the next day. He was Romania's ambassador in Berlin (2009- 2014). In February 2015 he was appointed a presidential adviser and head of the Presidency's Foreign Policy Department.

Minister of National Defence — Mihnea Ion Motoc

Motoc was a debutant magistrate and a magistrate in the Bucharest court circuit (1989-1991). has returned to the MAE, where he was appointed State Secretary for European Integration and Multilateral Affairs (2001-2003). He has also held other positions: president of the National Security Authority (2001, 2002), national coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe (2001 2003), president of the Inter-ministerial Commission for Romania's accession to NATO (2001-2003) and head of Romania's delegation at the negotiations for NATO accession (2003). He was Romania's representative in the UN Security Council (2004-2005) as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, as well as Romania's permanent representative to the UN — New York (2003-2008).

Minister of Energy, SMEs and Business Climate — Victor Vlad Grigorescu

Victor Vlad Grigorescu (39 years old) has graduated from the Law School of the . He held the office of expert with the Privatisation and Administration of State Equities in Energy Directorate General/the Department for Energy within the Energy, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Business Environment Ministry, under the leadership of Minister-delegate Razvan Nicolescu. He was elected member of the Electrica SA Board, on September 22, 2014

You can access his CV here.

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Minister of Justice — Raluca Prună

Raluca Alexandra Pruna is the new proposal of PM-designate Dacian Ciolos for the Justice Ministry after he withdrew the proposal of Cristina Guseth late last night following her performance in the Parliamentary specialty commitee hearings. Raluca Alexandra Pruna has a BA in Law and Philosophy and a MA in Political Science. Pruna is a former founding member and director of the Romanian Association for Transparency, currently known as Transparency International Romania (1999-2003).

Minister of Transport — Marian Costescu

Marian Costescu He graduated from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest (1993). He was executive director of the Romanian Railway Authority (1998-2000), founding director of the centre of railway testing and research (2001-2003) and International Affairs director with Karsdoerfer Eisenbahn GmbH (2002-2004), chairman of the Board and director general of Romvag SA (2002-2004), director general of Sistematic Engineering (2004-2015). He took over the office of director general of CFR SA National Railway Company on March 2, 2015.

Minister of Environment, Waters and Forestry — Cristiana Pasca Palmer

Cristiana Pasca Palmer is a graduate of the Natural Sciences Faculty of the University of Bucharest (1996). She then went on to complete master's degree studies in Science, Ecological Systems and Natural Capital Management, at the same university (1996-1997). She has continued her studies abroad, completing a master's degree in Public Administration at Harvard University — Kennedy School of Government. Presently, she is head of the environment unit of the European Commission.

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Minister of Labour, Family, Social Security and the Elderly — Claudia Ana Moarcas

Claudia Ana Moarcas was born on February 25, 1967. She is a graduate of the University of Bucharest's Law School and valedictorian of her class (1990). She has completed a research internship at the Institut fur Sozialrecht und Sozialpolitik of Munich, Germany (2000), a research internship, under a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholarship, on European Labor Law in Darmstadt, Germany (1997), and a training for trainers course at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Minister for the Information Society — Marius Raul Bostan

Marius Raul Bostan is a Mathematics graduate. Moreover, he took post-graduate management courses with the National School of Political and Administration Studies (SNSPA). He attended specialization courses in the UK and Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. He collaborated in the implementation of some projects of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank and the European Commission, for the local public administration. At the same time, he was an organizer of the first International Conference of Fiscal Decentralization in Romania. He is a member of the Telekom Romania Board, appointed by the Ministry for the Information Society.

Minister of the EU Funds — Aura Carmen Raducu

Aura Carmen Răducu holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Chemistry (1980). She has held the positions of Programme Manager — Unit Romania in the Directorate General for Regional Policy of the European Commission, according to the EC Representation in Romania, and of Principal Manager, EU Programme in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), coordinating Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans for Bucharest and Ilfov County.

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Minister of Youth and Sport — Elisabeta Lipa

Elisabeta Lipă is a multiple Olympic, world and European champion rower, President of the Romanian Rowing Federation and President of Dinamo Bucharest Sports Club. In 2009 she was granted a doctorate in physical education and sports. Furthermore, she is a Vice President of the Romanian Olympic and Sporting Committee since March 1, 2013. On May 29, 2014, she ran for the position of President of the Romanian Olympic and Sporting Committee.

Minister of Culture — Vlad Alexandrescu

Vlad Alexandrescu received the Diploma of Advanced Studies in Language Sciences (Sciences du langage) from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales of Paris in 1991, and in 1995 he received his Ph.D. in Language Sciences with the distinction 'summa cum laude' from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales of Paris. During 2006-2011, he was the Romanian Ambassador, extraordinary and plenipotentiary, in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. He has coordinated, as director or co-director, the organization of numerous international seminars. Since 2001, he is the director of the "Foundations of European Modernity" Research Center of the University of Bucharest. You can access his CV here.

Minister-delegate for the Relation with Parliament — Ciprian Bucur

Ciprian Bucur is a head of service at the Legal, discipline and Immunities Committee of the . Bucur is the president of the Institute for Sociological Evaluation and Research and vice-president of the Civil Law International Association.

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Minister-delegate for the Relation with the Abroad — Dan Stoenescu

Dan Stoenescu graduated the Austin College in Texas, USA, holding a bachelor's degree in International Studies (2003), while in 2005 he became the holder of a master's degree in Globalization and Development from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. He has worked, in , at the UN High Commission for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration. In 2000, he was among the founders of the League of Romanian Youths Everywhere, and went on to found the Center for Democratic Education.

Minister-delegate for Public Consultation and Social Dialogue — Violeta Alexandru

Victoria-Violeta Alexandru, 40 years old, is a graduate of the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Bucharest. She is currently director of the Institute for Public Policies (IPP) NGO.

The Chief of the Prime Minister's Chancellery — Ioan Dragos Tudorache

Ioan Dragos Tudorache is a jurist and has a vast management experience working with international institutions. He has also worked for the UN in Kosovo. Currently, he is employed by the European Commission and held the responsibility of the unit dealing with the Schengen Area and International Relations, within the Directorate General for Home Affairs.

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