Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Tăriceanu in 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| President of the Senate of Romania | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 10 March 2014 – 2 September 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Crin Antonescu | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Teodor Meleșcanu | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister of Romania | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 29 December 2004 – 22 December 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Traian Băsescu Nicolae Văcăroiu(Acting) Traian Băsescu | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Eugen Bejinariu(Acting) Adrian Năstase | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Emil Boc | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Acting 21 March 2007 – 5 April 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Himself | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Mihai-Răzvan Ungureanu | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Adrian Cioroianu | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Industry and Commerce | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 12 December 1996 – 5 December 1997 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Victor Ciorbea | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Alexandru Stănescu [ro] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Mircea Ciumara | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founding Leader of theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 19 June 2015 – 19 October 2020 Serving with Daniel Constantin(until April 2017) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Himself (as president of theLiberal Reformist Party) Daniel Constantin (as president of theConservative Party) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Daniel Olteanu [ro] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of theNational Liberal Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 2 October 2004 – 20 March 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Theodor Stolojan | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Crin Antonescu | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founding Leader of theLiberal Reformist Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 3 July 2014 – 19 June 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Himself &Daniel Constantin (party merged with theConservative Party into theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Călin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tăriceanu (1952-01-14)14 January 1952 (age 73) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Romanian Communist Party(before 1990) National Liberal Party(1990) National Liberal Party - Youth Wing(1990–1993) Liberal Party '93(1993–1998) National Liberal Party (1998–2014) Liberal Reformist Party (2014–2015) Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (2015–2020) PRO Romania(2020–2021) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party(2004–2009; 2015–2019) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Cornelia Tăriceanu(Divorced) Livia Tăriceanu(Divorced) Ioana Tăriceanu(Divorced) Loredana Moise | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Technical University of Civil Engineering | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Călin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tăriceanu (Romanian pronunciation:[kəˈliŋ konstanˈtin anˈton poˈpesku təriˈtʃe̯anu]; born 14 January 1952) is a Romanian politician who served asprime minister of Romania from 2004 to 2008. He was also president of theNational Liberal Party (PNL) and the vice-president of theEuropean Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR), two positions he assumed in 2004.
He previously served as thePresident of the Senate, the second position in the Romanian state, from 2014 until his resignation in 2019, having previously resigned from his own party, the PNL, and then becoming an independent senator. In July 2014, he established theLiberal Reformist Party (PLR) which later merged with theConservative Party (PC) in order to form theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE).
Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu was born inBucharest. His mother, Alexandrina Louiza, was ofGreek ancestry[1]–her mother was fully Greek while her father was half-Romanian, half-Greek.[2] He has been married five times and has three children.[3] Tăriceanu is a graduate of theTechnical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest and has a master's degree in Mathematics and Computer Science.
Between 1996 and 1997, he served as Minister of Industries and Commerce inVictor Ciorbea'sCDR-ledcabinet. Between 1996 and 2004, he was a member of theChamber of Deputies, representing Bucharest. Between 2000 and 2004, he was vice president of thePNL group inParliament, as well as vice president of the Budget, Finances and Insurance Committee in the Chamber of Deputies.[4]
Following the victory ofTraian Băsescu in the2004 presidential election, Băsescu appointed Tăriceanu as prime minister, in line with a pre-electoral agreement between the two parties of theJustice and Truth Alliance (DA). The new government took office on 29 December; it was approved by Parliament by a vote of 265 for and 200 against. Consequently, he became the first National Liberal prime minister of Romania since 1937.
The Tăriceanu government oversaw a number of major reforms, such as the introduction of aflat tax, therevaluation of the leu, the abolition ofconscription and professionalization of theRomanian Armed Forces, and theaccession of Romania to the European Union in 2007. His term also coincided with aconsiderable economic boom in Romania. However, economists criticized several of Tăriceanu's policies, such as the introduction of a "firstregistration tax" for motor vehicles, faulty management of over 2 billion euros acquired following the privatization ofBCR, and, most prominently, an increase in the number of public servants and their salaries, which resulted in a major increase in public spending before the2008 financial crisis.[5]
On 7 July 2005, 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.PresidentTraian Băsescu had been pushing for early elections since his victory in the2004 elections. On 19 July, Tăriceanu reversed the decision and announced he would not resign, citing the severe floods that hit the country (for example theComăneşti floods). Floods killed 66 people in Romania that year, leaving thousands homeless.[6]
At that point, relations began to publicly sour between Tăriceanu and President Băsescu, who refused to meet with the Prime Minister in the days following the announced reversal.
In the view of former presidentEmil Constantinescu, however, relations between Tăriceanu and Băsescu started to become strained following allegations of Băsescu's past membership in theSecuritate (duringCommunist Romania).[citation needed]
In September 2005, a newspaper alleged that on 9 April 2004, Tăriceanu bought 10 million shares of theRompetrol company based oninsider information[citation needed], 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, Băsescu stated that he regrets naming Tăriceanu Prime Minister, and accused him ofpartnership with other groups.[7]
On 29 June 2006, Tăriceanu officially announced that theNational Liberal Party (PNL) supports the withdrawal of Romanian troops from international battle zones where they are deployed without a mandate from the United Nations,NATO, or theEuropean Union. This mainly concerns the Romanian troops inIraq (present there following theIraq War). This position is strongly opposed by President Băsescu.[8]
On 14 March 2007, Tăriceanu postponed the elections for theEuropean Parliament claiming that the political environment was too unstable due to discussions regarding President's impeachment, the subsequent referendum, and the fact that President Băsescu asked for a referendum regarding uninominal elections.[citation needed] The media also pointed out that Tăriceanu National Liberal Party (PNL) stood to perform poorly in the elections if they were held at the time.[citation needed]
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On 21 March 2007, he assumed anad interim (i.e.acting) position of the office ofMinister of Foreign Affairs, 43 days afterUngureanu's resignation, because President Băsescu refused to accept the nomination ofAdrian Cioroianu. On 5 April 2007, theConstitutional 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 his proposal, if he observes that the proposed person does not meet the legal conditions required to be a member of Government".[9] The same day,Cioroianu assumed the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs.
On 1 April 2007, Tăriceanu dismissed the ministers of the pro-BăsescuDemocratic Party (PD) and formed a minority government with theDemocratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR);[10] Thus, the second Tăriceanu cabinet was approved by the Parliament on 3 April, with the support of theSocial Democratic Party (PSD).[11]
Tăriceanu's government survived a no-confidence vote on 3 October 2007, following a motion brought by the Social Democratic Party (PSD). Although 220 members of parliament voted in favor of the motion and only 152 voted against it, the motion fell short of the necessary 232 votes.[12] On 2 June 2025, Tăriceanu was definitively acquitted on by theHigh Court of Cassation and Justice in a case in which he was accused of taking a bribe worth 800,000 US dollars.[13]
On 26 February 2014, Tăriceanu left PNL due to their intention to leave theSocial Liberal Union (USL) and theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) to join theEuropean People's Party (EPP). One day later, he announced that he would launch a new political party, theLiberal Reformist Party (PLR).[14] The party's first congress was held on 1–2 August 2014.[15] Tăriceanu was elected president of the new party.
On 4 March, PNL leaderCrin Antonescu stepped down his position asPresident of the Senate. On 10 March, Tăriceanu was elected as the new president of the Senate, with the votes of theSocial Democratic Party (PSD) and serving as independent senator.[16]
In late July 2014, Tăriceanu launched his candidacy for the2014 presidential elections.[17] Due to problems with registering his new political party, he ran as independent.[18] Tăriceanu placed third in the election's first round, with 5.36%, behindKlaus Iohannis andVictor Ponta.[19] Later, he announced that he would support Ponta in the second round of the elections.[20] However, in the run-off, Ponta was defeated by Iohannis by a 54.5%-45.5% margin.
In July 2015, PLR announced its merger with theConservative Party (PC), to form a new party,Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), Tăriceanu becoming its co-president.[21]
In 2017, Tăriceanu described himself as amonarchist, saying: "Constitutional monarchy has the advantage of placing the monarch over political games, which is not our case: the president, instead of being an arbitrator, prefers to be a player".[22]
Tăriceanu has been accused by President Băsescu of interfering with justice inDinu Patriciu's benefit.
On 24 January 2006,Monica Macovei, then Minister of Justice, made public a meeting with Tăriceanu which took place 7 months before (in June 2005), and to which Tăriceanu invitedDinu Patriciu. Patriciu complained to Macovei about alleged procedural problems regarding his case. Macovei accused Tăriceanu of interfering with justice. On 20 February 2006 Tăriceanu declared on TVR1:" I recognise my fault. I didn't act correctly. But I didn't influence justice."(in Romanian) "Îmi recunosc vina. Nu am procedat corect. Dar nu am influenţat justiţia"[23]
Elena Udrea recalled that, while she was Presidential Counsellor, she saw a note written by Tăriceanu. In a few days President Băsescu found the note and made it public, saying that "The Prime Minister suggested to me a partnership, but, unfortunately, with our oligarchies"(in Romanian) "Domnul prim-ministru imi propunea un parteneriat, dar, din pacate, cu oligarhiile noastre". The note was about a complaint from Petromidia about the 27 May procedure problems:
Dear Traian,
1. I send you annexed a document released by Petromidia, regarding the ongoing investigations.
2. If you have the opportunity to speak at the Prosecuting Magistracy about the subject?[24]
In May 2007, Patriciu won a lawsuit against theRomanian Intelligence Service (SRI), which illegally tapped his phones for two years. He received from SRI 50,000RON as moral prejudice.[25]
| Election | Affiliation | First round | Second round | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Percentage | Position | Votes | Percentage | Position | ||
| 2014 | Independent1 | 508,572 | 5.36% | 3rd | Not qualified | ||
Notes:
1His party,PLR, did not manage to register in time for the elections, therefore he was forced to file his candidacy as an independent.
| Election | Affiliation | First round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Percentage | Position | ||
| 2020 | ALDE | 9,892 | 1.49% | 5th |
{{cite web}}:|author= has generic name (help)| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Industry and Commerce 1996–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Romania 2004–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Affairs Acting 2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Romanian Senate 2014–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | President of theNational Liberal Party 2004–2009 | Succeeded by |
