• Extension of the Hot Meal pilot program, serving school meals also in schools without canteens or special dining rooms, etc.

• Expansion of the School Feeding Program (Milk and Bread), the only school feeding program with national coverage, from a nutritional, inclusive, educational point of view.

• The decrease of VAT from 19% to 5% for e-books and online media; the law came into force in 2021:

The amendment brought Romanian tax practice into alignment with European practice and and is applicable from January 1st 2022.

According to estimates made at the time, the change led to a drop of about 11% in the price of e-books and audiobooks.

At the time I wrote the bill, the 5% VAT rate applied only to printed matter, i.e. the supply of "school textbooks, books, newspapers and magazines, except those intended exclusively or mainly for advertising", according to the Tax Code. With the adoption of this law, the decreased VAT rate became applicable to all textbooks and books, whether in printed or electronic format.

• Possibility of redirecting 3.5% of income tax to libraries:

Individual taxpayers can redirect 3.5% of their income tax to public libraries.

The Romanian Libraries Act expressly states that libraries may be funded by individuals through donations, sponsorships or other legal sources of income. The bill therefore fills a legislative gap.

In the beginning, only libraries with public status will benefit from this project. For community libraries, we are still looking for solutions together with the working group we have set up.

If you too believe that libraries are essential to the development of local communities,
join our working group on libraries!

• Amendments on the Reading Day law:

We proposed including local libraries in the activities organized by educational institutions to celebrate Reading Day. Libraries are an essential partner in the educational process, which is why we felt that they should play a central role in achieving the objective of encouraging reading. The amendment was adopted and is included in the text of the law.

Russia's war against Ukraine has shocked the world. Over a million Ukrainians have crossed our borders in a tragic moment. Unfamiliar with the Romanian language and the institutions they can turn to in case of need, they can easily become victims of human trafficking and exploitation. We wanted to help them by bringing preventive measures regarding the risk of exploitation and trafficking in human beings:

• Individuals mentioned in the Sexual Offenders Register should no longer be able to transport or accommodate displaced persons. The register has more than 60,000 people convicted of such offences, of whom only 11,000 have been rehabilitated.

• The Ministry of the Interior should be able to provide refugees with a single integrated digital platform where they can voluntarily inform the authorities at any time where they are and by what means of transport they are travelling.

• The General Directorates for Social Assistance and Child Protection (DGASPC) should be able to carry out social surveys at the places of accommodation declared by displaced persons, ex officio or on request.

Temporary embargo on energy imports from Russia - "Solidarity with Ukraine" bill:

The bill calls for a temporary embargo on imports and intra-Community purchases of oil, gas, coal and nuclear fuel from the Russian Federation for the duration of the unprovoked war against Ukraine.

Romania cannot participate in financing this war by purchasing dirty energy, causing the loss of innocent human lives, involving millions of Ukrainian civilians, unwillingly and unjustly, in this illegal, inhumane and perfidious war.

• Child protection in criminal proceedings:

The bill establishes a series of measures to protect child victims throughout the criminal justice process.

The latest report by the Centre for Advocacy and Human Rights (CADO) revealed that the hearing of minors takes place without the use of audio-video recording of the victim's testimony, and in many cases the hearing takes place in the presence of the accused, at the trial stage, and in the absence of a lawyer.

• Prohibition of participation in local and parliamentary elections of individuals convicted of offences against
children:

I managed to pass in the parliamentary committees a bill initiated at the beginning of 2021, which prohibits the right to run in local and parliamentary elections for people convicted of serious abuses against minors, unless they have been rehabilitated.

The bill has signatures and supporters from all parties, who understand that we must no longer accept people guilty of abominable acts against children, the most vulnerable members of society, at the head of communities. This is unacceptable in the 21st century.

We set up a working group with civil society representatives on sexual and reproductive rights, how we address reproductive health issues, measures to prevent sexual abuse, sexual and reproductive health education, measures to combat domestic violence, bullying and harassment, measures to protect against sexually transmitted diseases and underage pregnancies.