PSD’s 10-priority agreement gives no costs or funding sources

Romania’s Social Democratic Party says every policy measure should answer five basic questions: where the money comes from, who benefits, who pays, which institution is responsible and what risks failure could bring. Its 10-priority agreement, however, does not provide those answers, according to the commentary.

The document presents “common commitments,” but does not state the scale of their costs or identify financing, deadlines, responsible officials and public indicators. The author describes the result as a list of promises and ideals that voters cannot assess without knowing how the plans would be funded.

The first priority focuses on rebuilding the energy system and using Romania’s resources. It calls for a public audit of energy projects, generation capacity, networks and administrative blockages. It also proposes a national timetable for new capacity, grid modernization, storage and interconnection, with named responsibility for major projects.

Other proposals include support for Romanian-made energy equipment and services, an updated inventory of mineral resources and critical raw materials, predictable royalties, transparency about revenues and environmental costs, targeted protection for vulnerable consumers, and efficiency programs intended to reduce bills.

The author estimates that these commitments could require about 20 billion to 30 billion euros during the agreement’s first two years. That estimate is set against public debt of 240 billion euros, 12 billion euros in annual interest payments and pressure to cut state spending to reduce the deficit.

The commentary also says the agreement ignores the risk of Romania receiving a junk credit rating and losing access to borrowing, as well as the possibility of being unable to fund pensions and public-sector salaries. It applies the same criticism to the remaining nine priorities and argues that, at 25 billion euros per priority, the total would reach 250 billion euros, compared with annual GDP of 400 billion euros and a 120 billion-euro budget.

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Any measure must indicate where the money comes from, who benefits, who bears the cost, which institution is responsible and what the risk of failure is.