page_title: Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu
section_title: Prime Minister
hierarchical_section_title: Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu / Prime Minister
caption_attribution_description: Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu at a government meeting
context_page_description: Călin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tăriceanu is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 29 December 2004 to 22 December 2008. He was also president of the National Liberal Party and the vice-president of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, two positions he assumed in 2004. He was the President of the Senate, second position in the Romanian state, from 10 March 2014 until he resigned on 2 September 2019, having previously resigned from the PNL party, becoming an independent senator. In July 2014, he established the Liberal Reformist Party.
context_section_description: Following the victory of Traian Băsescu in the 2004 presidential election, Băsescu appointed Popescu-Tăriceanu as Prime Minister, in line with a pre-electoral agreement between the two parties of the Justice and Truth Alliance. The new government took office on 29 December; it was approved by Parliament by a vote of 265 for and 200 against.  He became the first National Liberal prime minister since 1937.
  The Tăriceanu government oversaw a number of major reforms, such as the introduction of a flat tax, the revaluation of the leu, the abolition of conscription and professionalization of the Romanian Armed Forces, and the accession of Romania to the European Union in 2007. It also coincided with a considerable economic boom in Romania. However, economists criticized several of Tăriceanu's policies, such as the introduction of a "first registration tax" for motor vehicles, faulty management of over 2 billion euros acquired following the privatization of BCR, and, most prominently, an increase in the number of public servants and their salaries, which resulted in a major increase in public spending on the eve of the financial crisis.
  On 7 July 2005, Popescu-Tăriceanu announced that he and his cabinet would resign in order to trigger early elections. The announcement of the resignation was prompted by the Constitutional Court's decision to block a set of laws designed to reform the judicial system. President Traian Băsescu had been pushing for early elections since his victory in the 2004 elections. On 19 July, Popescu-Tăriceanu reversed the decision and announced he would not resign, citing the severe floods that hit the country (for example the Comăneşti floods). Floods killed 66 people in Romania that year, leaving thousands homeless.
  At that point, relations began to publicly sour between Popescu-Tăriceanu and President Băsescu, who refused to meet with the Prime Minister in the days following the announced reversal.
  In the view of former President Emil Constantinescu, however, relations between Popescu-Tăriceanu and President Băsescu started to become strained following allegations of Băsescu's past membership in the Securitate (during Communist Romania).
  In September 2005, a newspaper alleged that on 9 April 2004, Tăriceanu bought 10 million shares of the Rompetrol company based on insider information, shares that were sold later that year after he became Prime Minister. Several other publicly known persons were cited to testify about their involvement in questionable transactions with Rompetrol shares, including the company's CEO, Dinu Patriciu.
  On 5 April 2006 Basescu stated that he regrets naming Tariceanu Prime-Minister, and accused him of partnership with other groups.
  On 29 June 2006, Tăriceanu officially announced that the National Liberal Party supports the withdrawal of Romanian troops from international battle zones where they are deployed without a mandate from the United Nations, NATO, or the European Union. This mainly concerns the Romanian troops in Iraq (present there following the Iraq War). This position is strongly opposed by President Băsescu.
  On 14 March 2007, Popescu-Tăriceanu postponed the elections for the European Parliament claiming that the political environment was too unstable due to discussions regarding President's impeachment, the subsequent referendum, and the fact that President Basescu asked for a referendum regarding uninominal elections.  The media also pointed out that Popescu-Tăriceanu's National Liberal Party stood to perform poorly in the elections if they were held at the time.
  On 21 March 2007, he assumed ad interim the office of Minister of Foreign Affairs, 43 days after Ungureanu's resignation, because President Băsescu refused to accept the nomination of Adrian Cioroianu. On 5 April 2007, the Constitutional Court decided "The Romanian President's refusal to name a member of Government at the proposal of Prime Minister started a jurisdictional conflict of a constitutional nature.[...] The Romanian President has no right to veto, but he can ask the Prime Minister to renounce hi
caption: Tăriceanu at a cabinet meeting in 2007
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