On Wednesday, deputies voted for a bill that allows citizens to visit sports facilities of educational institutions and institutions outside of school hours, free of charge or for a fee.

“Own sports facilities and facilities can be provided free of charge or for a fee to local communities, interested individuals or legal entities with the obligation to respect the normal development of educational programs and activities, as well as school and university sports clubs, as well as the regulations for access and use of them” , the draft law states.

Educational units must, within 120 days from the date of entry into force of the law, introduce provisions on access and the way of using sports facilities and playgrounds into the current regulatory legal acts.

Access hours, unscheduled hours, weekends and during school holidays will be posted in a prominent place on the institution’s website.

“Between the risks of childhood obesity, the lack of public sports infrastructure and the dependence on screens, children need to be able to participate in recreational activities safely and as close to home as possible. The school yard is the perfect place to give children the opportunity to fall in love with sports and exercise. The schoolyard is a chance for a healthy childhood. I welcome the support of my fellow MPs and ask school principals and local authorities to find the will and the necessary resources to give children free access to a sports field in a school yard with the same kindness with which they find a solution when they rent a school. a paid gym,” states UDR deputy Tudor Pop, the initiator of the law.

The Chamber of Deputies is the decision-making body, the law goes to President Klaus Iohannis for promulgation.

The project belongs to the USR and was resubmitted to parliament after the Ciucă government challenged the legislative initiative.

On January 13, the Government appealed to the Constitutional Court the draft law, according to which students have free access to sports grounds in the school yard and during extracurricular hours. The government noted in the message of the Central Committee that the draft has unclear wording.

In April, the Constitutional Court of Romania accepted the government’s appeal and declared the bill unconstitutional.

The UDR re-introduced a revised draft law to the parliament, introducing the provision that school sports facilities can be used “free of charge or for a fee.”