Organization for Youth Education & Development (OYED)

Laws Concerning Youth in Romania

Laws Concerning Youth in Romania

Romania has a young population of 6 million people between the ages of 17 and 34 (almost 30% of the total population). One common phenomenon for the Romanian youth is emigration to western EU countries for education and employment purposes. This trend is the main cause for the decreasing number of young people and one of the strongest arguments for the Romanian Government to pay special attention to this demographic group. Furthermore, the level of unemployment and poverty is especially high among people aged 18 to 24 and that is an additional reason for the local and central authorities to frame programs dedicated to solving these problems.

The first attempt to strategically plan the youth policies in Romania was done in 2001 with the adoption of a document called National Action Plan for Youth - Romania; it mentioned 8 objectives - 4 about youth participation in the economic, civic and political, cultural and educational fields and another 4 about social inclusion, stimulating creativity, promoting mobility in the European area and optimizing the institutional framework.
This attempt came in the context of the Council of Europe starting in 1997 with the monitoring of the national youth policies and the White Paper published by the European Commission in 2001 with the purpose of including youth issues on the public policies agenda.

At present, the Romanian youth legislation and non-legislative actions are encompassed by the National Strategy in the field of youth policy 2014-2020. The main objective of the strategy is to support the active participation of young people in economic, social, cultural and political life of the country, ensuring equal opportunities of access to education, employment and decent living conditions, with particular attention to young people who, for various reasons, may have fewer opportunities. The main institution responsible for implementing the strategy is the Ministry of Youth and Sport.

The strategy is focused on four directions: culture and non-formal education; health, sport and recreation; participation and voluntary service; and work and entrepreneurship. It contains a chapter on disadvantaged groups as well, trying to create equal opportunities for all young people and to reduce social exclusion.

The political background for all these measures is represented by a set of legal acts, adopted mainly in the last 14 years. The reason for the legislative void before 2000 is the historical and political context of the communist and the post-communist Romania. Youth legislation before 1989 was mainly focused on creating a new communist youth and the means were mainly propagandistic and party-related. Therefore, the fall of the communist regime faced the legislative body with the necessity to frame completely new legislation regarding youth. Despite this, the political and economic problems were the main priorities of the post-communist Romania, which failed to focus of the young generation and on education as a long term development strategy. With the prospect of European accession and the improvement of the economic situation, the decision bodies started to focus on issues such as youth, education, voluntary activities, and internships.

The following paragraphs will present the main legal acts adopted by the Romanian Parliament or the Government of Romania that have an important impact on the Romanian youth.

 

2014

  • Order no. 90 / 24.02.2014 on annual national strategy on youth information and counseling 2014
    The main goal of the strategy is the development and the diversification of the programs and services for youth. The organism responsible for implementing this strategy is the Directorate for programs and projects for Youth and Students, a directorate of the Ministry for Youth and Sport.

2011

  • The New Labor Code (2011)
    The new code elaborates on the specific provisions for the employment of youth, such as:
    - For young people aged up to 18 the working time is 6 hours per day and 30 hours per week.
    - Young people under the age of 18 cannot perform overtime work.
    - Young people under the age of 18 cannot perform night work.
    - Young people under the age of 18 years receive a meal break of at least 30 minutes, if the daily working time is more than 4hours and 30 minutes.
    - Supplementary vacation days for young people under the age of 18.
     
  • The Law on the New Civil Code (Law 287/2009, republished in 2011)
    The Civil Code provides different protection measures for young people under the age of 18, which are defined as children, regarding marriage, pregnancy, adoption etc.
     
  • The National Education Law (Law 1/2011)
    The new education law was adopted after a long period of national debate and many attempted reforms with the declared purpose to reform and adapt the educational system to the new European realities. It provides for at least ¼ of all legislative bodies to be made up of students and it emphasizes the importance of student organizations. On the other hand, the autonomy of the universities was diminished and the voluntary activities and internships were not given enough importance.

2007

  • Law no. 72/2007 - on stimulating employment of pupils and students, consolidated in 2008
    This law provides that companies that employ pupils and students during holidays receive a monthly financial incentive, for a maximum of 60 days per year.

2006

  • The Youth Law (Law 350/2006)
    This is  the most important piece of legislation adopted in the field of youth issues. The subjects that are discussed are the following:
    - The national and local institutions responsible for implementing the youth policies, from the National Youth Authority to local information and counseling centers;
    - Youth NGOs and foundations;
    - Youth participation in the economic, cultural, educational and research field;
    - Voluntary activities;
    - Social protection of young people;
    - Funding of youth activities.

    In the last few years, there have been NGOs and other members of civil society that have brought forward the need for a new and updated law, underlining the fact that the existing one has some important weak points: it does not specify who is responsible for enacting youth policies, which specific structure; it mentions structures that no longer exist; it does not support youth creativity - the main resource young people can bring into a society; it lacks a necessary sanctions chapter.
     
  • The Romanian Government Decision on the national strategy for social inclusion of youth leaving the child welfare system (HG 669/2006)
    The strategy mainly aims at the establishment of a legal and institutional framework for supporting social and professional integration of young people leaving the child welfare system, and the implementation of policies and programs for social assistance to ensure their right to an independent and dignified life.
     
  • Law no. 333/2006 - on the establishment of information and counseling centers for youth
    This law aims to create in each county capital city a center where young people have unlimited access to information and counseling. These centers can run their own programs, specific to their areas, in collaboration with the local government; they can also develop collaborations and partnerships with NGOs and other social partners.
     
  • Law no. 351/2006 - on the establishment, organization and functioning of the National Youth Council of Romania
    This is the national forum which is the main non-governmental youth partner in relation to the public administration institutions and authorities that have attributions in the field of youth policy.

2005

  • The Law on apprenticeship in the workplace (Law 279/2005, republished in 2012)'
    This law defines what an apprentice is and establishes the legal framework of apprenticeship (the contract, the rights and the obligations) and it also mentions the possibility of the employer to get public funding for hiring an apprentice.

2004

  • Law no. 425/2004 on the Establishment of the National Youth Day
    This law establishes the 2nd of May to be the National Youth Day in Romania. It is celebrated through cultural, artistic, social and sport events organized by public institutions and youth NGOs. Between the 26th of April and the 2nd of May the Romanian Radio Society and the Romanian Television will broadcast with priority programs on issues specific to young people in order to raise awareness and promote youth.

2003

  • Law no. 15/2003 on support for youth to build a personal house
    This law regulates the award, upon request, to young people aged between 18 and 35 who have never owned a house, of a piece of land of 250 sqm to 500 sqm for the construction of their own house.

2002

  • The Law on the public support for youth from the rural areas (Law 646/2002)
  • This law aims to support the integration of young people in rural areas in order to develop them and to make them more dynamic. It provides for the assignment of ownership, free of charge, of up to 1,000 sqm land for housing and household annexes, for the allocation of agricultural land and tax benefits for young people and families of young people with ages below 40.
  • The Law on the prevention and combating of marginalization (Law 116/2002)
    The purpose of this law is to guarantee effective access, particularly for young people, to elementary and fundamental rights, such as: the right to a job, a home, medical care, education, and the establishment of measures to prevent and combat social exclusion and to mobilize institutions with attributions in this field.
  • The Law no. 146/2002 on the legal status of the county-level  and Bucharest youth foundations and the National Foundation for Youth
    This law establishes the goal of these foundations to be the framing, the development and the funding of specific programs. Furthermore, they aim to educate and train the youth in the spirit of humanistic traditions, democratic values and aspirations of the Romanian society.

2001

  • The Voluntary activities Law (Law 195/2001)
    The aim of this law is to formally recognize the importance of voluntary activities for the community, to promote and to facilitate the participation of Romanian citizens in voluntary activities. Since young people are one of the most active social categories in terms of voluntary service, this law is especially important for youth.

2000

  • The Sport Law (Law 69/2000, updated in 2009)
    This law establishes physical activities and sports to be domains of national interest. It is meant to promote and support physical activities organized by public institutions, educational institutions and non-governmental institutions, both for amateurs and for professionals. It also covers all subjects related to sport from the Olympic committee to the PE lessons in primary school, thus being the most important legal act regarding sport in Romania.

1990

  • Decree-Law no. 150/1990 establishing foundations for youth
    This is one of the first legal acts on youth issues adopted after the fall of the communist regime. Its aim was the establishment of youth foundations in each county, their goal being to manage their own patrimony for the benefit of all young people and youth organizations.