Radio România Internațional

Tag: commissioners

  • October 3, 2024

    October 3, 2024

     

    DEFICIT The Romanian minister for investments and European projects, Adrian Câciu, said a 7-year plan to reduce the budget deficit would be presented by the October 15 deadline set by the EC. According to Câciu, the plan is accompanied by reforms included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The measures mainly consist in cutting unnecessary expenditure by public institutions and improved collection of government revenues.

     

    EUROPEAN COMMISSION The commissioners nominated by member states and by the EC president Ursula von der Leyen will be interviewed by the European Parliament’s specialized standing committees next month. According to France Presse, the new College of Commissioners might therefore take office in early December. Romania’s representative Roxana Mînzatu was nominated for executive vice-president for skills, education and culture, quality jobs and social rights.

     

    YOUTH European youth born in 2006, including in Romania, may enroll in the 2024 DiscoverEU programme, which provides free travel across the Union. A dedicated European Commission webpage is available for young people to enroll in order to win one of the 35,000 free travel permits and discount accommodation and meal cards. Each permit allows for one trip between March 2025 and May 2026. Winners may choose certain destinations in Europe, including ones on the DiscoverEU cultural route that connects EU capital cities, UNESCO sites and European heritage sites. Applications may be submitted until October 16. More than 300,000 youth have benefitted from this programme since its launch in 2018.

     

    WB The country partnership framework between the World Bank and Romania for 2025-2029 was launched in Bucharest. PM Marcel Ciolacu says that in the next 3 years the estimated funding for Romania from the WB group will be over USD 6 bln, in favourable financial terms. The money is intended to help bridge the gap between the more developed and integrated urban communities and the poorer and more isolated rural environment. A USD 500 mln loan agreement has also been signed, for the funding of disaster risk management policies.

     

    FOOTBALL Romania’s football champions, FCSB, play tonight away from home against PAOK Thessaloniki in the Europa League group stage. In the first round, the Greek champions coached by the Romanian Răzvan Lucescu were defeated by Galatasaray Istanbul, 3-1 in Turkey, while FCSB won against RFS (Latvia) 4-1 in Bucharest. (AMP)

  • November 18, 2019

    November 18, 2019

    ELECTION Romania sees the last week of the campaign for the presidential runoff. Competing are the incumbent president Klaus Iohannis, backed by the National Liberal Party in power, and Viorica Dăncilă, the leader of the Social Democratic Party. In the first round, Iohannis got nearly 38% of the votes, and his challenger little over 22%. In the country, the vote will be held on Sunday, November 24, whereas the Romanians living abroad have 3 days to vote, namely Friday, Saturday and Sunday.




    AGRICULTURE The Romanian agriculture minister, Adrian Oros, is taking part on Monday in Brussels in the meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council. The main topic on the agenda is the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy as of 2020. According to the line minister, the participants will discuss the Regulation on the funding, management and monitoring of the CAP, as well as a Regulation on the common organisation of agricultural markets. Last month, the agriculture minister told the Romanian Parliament that his top priority was to prepare the national strategic programme, because in the coming 7 years the main financing source for the Romanian agriculture is the annual 20 billion euros granted under the CAP.




    COMMISSIONERS The European Parliament is to make a decision by Thursday regarding the latest commissioner nominations made by Romania, France and Hungary. The UK, which declined appointing a commissioner, will have to provide an official answer by Friday, Radio Romanias correspondent in Brussels reports. The president of the European Parliament and the floor group leaders will make a final assessment of the 3 candidates and will decide the closure of the hearings on November 21. The commissioners nominated by Romania and France, Adina Vălean for transport commissioner and Thierry Breton for the internal market commissioner, respectively, have already been given the green light by the specialist committees. Hungarys nominee for enlargement and neighbourhood policy commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, had to answer additional questions from MEPs. A second rejection of Hungarys candidate will force a new postponement of the validation of the Commission as a whole. Further questions have to do with the UK, whose unwillingness to nominate a candidate is against the EU Treaty. However, the president elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, may go forth with an executive team of 27 members, as long as the legal affairs experts decide that the absence of a British commissioner does not prevent the activity of the new Commission.




    POLITICS The members of Save Romania Union, the third-largest party in Parliament, are voting online until Wednesday on Dan Barnas prospective resignation as party president. Barna said he was ready to step down, following the discontent triggered by his performance in the presidential election, in which he failed to qualify into the runoff. He got 15% of the votes, although half a year ago in the elections for the European Parliament the USR-PLUS alliance had carried 22% of the votes.




    NAVY The King Ferdinand frigate is taking part in an international anti-submarine warfare exercise organised by the Turkish Navy in the Mediterranean Sea and which is under way until November 20, the Navy Chief of Staff has announced. The Romanian crew will be carrying out specific training activities in Turkey’s territorial waters and neighbouring international waters alongside colleagues from Bulgaria, Canada, Greece, Jordan, Italy, Mexico, Pakistan, Spain, the United States and Turkey. According to the Romanian Navy Forces, the participation of King Ferdinand frigate in this exercise contributes to enhancing the interoperability of the Romanian and partner forces, and to promoting the professionalism of the Romanian Army.




    TOURISM Romanias largest travel fair came to a close on Sunday in Bucharest. The event brought together travel agencies, tour operators and tourist regions represented by trade associations or by county councils. 230 companies from 16 countries came up with offers for all seasons and all tastes, with discounts going up to and even over 50%. The offers include Christmas and New Years holidays in the country and abroad, summer packages in Romanian and Bulgarian Black Sea resorts, in the Danube Delta, in spa resorts, or in traditional regions.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • November 19, 2018 UPDATE

    November 19, 2018 UPDATE

    PSD — The national executive committee of the Social Democratic Party, the main party in the ruling coalition in Romania, on Monday voted for the reshuffle of several ministers from the government headed by Viorica Dancila. According to the executive committee, the former minister for the business environment Ilan Laufer will return to the government as deputy prime minister and minister for development. The defense ministry will be taken over by Gabriel Les, after Mihai Fifor decided to resign. The president of the committee for budget, finances and banks in the Chamber of Deputies Marius Budai is to take over the Labor Ministry. He will replace Lia Olguta Vasilescu who is to take over the Transport Ministry. The ministers of the economy, culture, communications and youth and sports will also be changed. Also during the meeting of the executive committee of the PSD the general mayor of Bucharest, Gabriela Firea, submitted her resignation from the positions of vice-president and interim president of the Bucharest branch of the PSD. The executive committee voted for the dismantling of the PSD leadership of the Ilfov county branch, south east, whose president was Gabriela Firea.



    CSM — The prosecutors’ section of the Superior Council of Magistracy on Monday issued a negative opinion on the request for the dismissal of Romania’s prosecutor general, Augustin Lazar, initiated by the justice minister, Tudorel Toader. The opinion of the Superior Council of Magistracy is consultative. Previously, the prosecutor general had filed a complaint with the Justice Ministry against the report on his managerial activity. Augustin Lazar also filed a request with the Alba Court of Appeal for the suspension of the procedure for his dismissal, which will be analyzed on Tuesday. The Romanian President announced he would not make a decision regarding the dismissal of prosecutor Lazar before his complaint is dealt with. Minister Tudorel Toader started the procedure for the dismissal of the prosecutor general on October 24, as he accused him of failing to observe legal obligations. However, Augustin Lazar said that the observance of constitutional principles and values underlay all the decisions he made. Last week, the European Commission made public the report under the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification for Romania and some of its recommendations refer to the immediate suspension of the procedures for the appointment and dismissal of chief prosecutors.



    Visit — The European Commissioner for Justice Vera Jourova is on an official visit to Bucharest on Monday and Tuesday. The EU official will meet Tuesday with president Klaus Iohannis, with justice minister Tudorel Toader as well as with other high officials from Bucharest. She is discussing the justice priorities in the context of Romania’s future presidency of the EU Council and the developments in the Romanian justice system. In the same context, on Wednesday, Bucharest will be hosting the Conference of the Presidents of the European Parliament with the Romanian government. The conference is to be attended by the PM Viorica Dancila, members of the Romanian government, the president of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani, the secretary general of the EP, Klaus Welle as well as the leaders of the nine European political groups. According to the PM, the talks will focus on issues related to the future EU budget, Brexit and the security policy developments.



    EC — The European Commission officials on Monday expressed confidence in the professionalism of the future Romanian presidency of the EU Council, and reiterated the appeal of the EC president, Jean-Clade Juncker, for a national political consensus Romania needs to achieve before taking over the presidency of the EU Council. The statement was made by EC spokesperson Margaritis Schinas in a regular press conference. Romania is taking over on January 1, 2019 the rotating presidency of the EU Council from Austria.



    RadiRo — The International Festival of Radio Orchestras, RadiRo, organized by Radio Romania, continues in Bucharest. The festival has reached its 4th edition and it is the only festival of the world devoted to radio orchestras. This year it includes jazz recitals for the first time. All the concerts of the festival are broadcast live by Radio Romania’s channels, recorded and subsequently rebroadcast by the public television. The concerts are also rebroadcast by radiobroadcasters that are members of the European Broadcasting Union.



    Brussels — The ministers for European affairs of the EU member states, gathered in Brussels, on Monday expressed their support for the Brexit agreement. The date for Brexit is set at the end of March 2019. Several ministers underlined that the 585-page agreement cannot be renegotiated. The document, which has come under fierce attack in Great Britain, needs to be ratified by both sides. Monday’s meeting opened the way for a special summit to be hosted by Brussels on Sunday, when the leaders of the remaining 27 EU states will sign the Brexit deal as well as a joint political declaration on the future relations between Britain and Brussels. (news translated by Lacramioara Simion)