"I am not happy," said Basescu in response to a question from EurActiv regarding the conclusions of last week's EU summit in Brussels.
At the two-day meeting, a group of nine EU member states from the former communist bloc demanded that the cost of reforming their costly pension systems be excluded from EU budget rules.
But the meeting's conclusions merely invite the EU Council of Ministers to speed up work on how pension reforms can be integrated into the EU's revised Stability and Growth Pact.
"Acknowledging the importance of systemic pension reforms, a level playing field within the Stability and Growth Pact should be ensured," reads the text. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy is expected to report in December on the matter.
Basescu said "more arguments" would be raised before the 16-17 December summit, when the Union's revised economic governance is to be agreed, including sanctions for budget sinners.
Fair play
"We have the duty to try to get closer to the [public debt and deficit] criteria," said Basescu.
Romania's deficit target, agreed with the IMF, is 6.8% in 2010, more than twice the EU limit of 3% under the Stability and Growth Pact.
"But in such discussions, one cannot put honesty on the side. If we have decided to move the sums of the state pensions [off our budgets], it's completely our responsibility and no-one else should be held accountable," Basescu said.
Basescu appealed for "fair play" in revising the EU's budget rules, recognising that his camp's demands should not set a dangerous precedent.
"If we move 2% and this is subtracted from our deficit, next time we could ask to move 20%," the Romanian president said.
