Radio România Internațional

Tag: Constitutional Court

June 6, 2018

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT – Romanias Constitutional Court has notified the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the Venice Commission and the president of the Conference of European Constitutional Courts of what it called “the virulent attacks launched against the Court, through which representatives of public authorities and of some parliamentary parties have discredited and deligitimised the institutions authority. Romanias Constitutional Court claims that the compulsory character of its rulings would thus be questioned and that the population and the countrys president would be urged not to respect and enforce the recent ruling by the court which took note of the existence of a legal conflict of a constitutional nature between the Justice Ministry and the President of Romania. Notified by the relevant minister, Tudorel Toader, the Court ruled that the head of state, Klaus Iohannis, should revoke the head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, DNA, Laura Codruţa Kovesi. We recall that president Iohannis had rejected as ungrounded the proposal made by the Justice Minister to revoke the DNA chief prosecutor. Yesterday, Klaus Iohannis said he would make a public statement on the revocation issue only after he receives the Constitutional Courts motivation, likely to be issued on Thursday. He underlined that he would observe the rule of law and would take care that prosecutors remain independent, in keeping with the provisions of the Constitution. The decision by which Romanias Constitutional Court imperatively calls on the head of state to revoke Kovesi has stirred criticism and fuelled speculations that, given its current membership, the court would allegedly be politically influenced when issuing its verdicts.

PORTUGAL – Romanian PM Viorica Dăncilă has today started a two-day official visit to Portugal for talks with her Portuguese counterpart Antonio Costa and president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. The visit is aimed at boosting bilateral cooperation, laying special emphasis on economic relations, with a view to capitalising on the commercial and investment potential, in the field of defence and security policies. Special attention is also paid to research and innovation, public healthcare, medicine as well as academic cooperation. The agenda of the Lisbon talks also covers such issues as cooperation at European level, also in the run up to Romanias taking over the rotating presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2019.

RePatriot – A program to support local authorities in their effort to help Romanian nationals now residing abroad return home and find business opportunities in their places of origin was launched in Bucharest. RePatriot is a project of repatriation through entrepreneurship, supported by the Romanian Business Leaders Foundation. According to the latest survey conducted by the UNO, 3.4 million Romanians left the country between 2007 and 2017 – accounting for some 17% of the population. The survey ranks Romania second, after Syria, in terms of emigration rate.

UNO – Romanias permanent representative to the UN, ambassador Ion Jinga, has been elected, in a plenary session of the UN General Assembly, Chair of the Disarmament and International Security Committee, for a one year mandate, as from September 2018. It is for the first time that a Romanian diplomat is elected chair of this major committee. In the past, Romanian diplomats held the position of Vice-Chair five times, in 1972, 1983, 2002, 2003 and 2014.

VISIT – The EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, Tibor Navracsics, has today started a two-day visit to Romania, for talks with the Romania education minister Valentin Popa and the culture minister George Ivaşcu. Tibor Navracsics will also start a dialogue with the citizens on Europes future. On Thursday, Commissioner Navracsics will be in the central Romanian city of Targu Mureş to attend a forum on education and a debate on cultural heritage. The European official will also meet with Kelemen Hunor, the president of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (a parliamentary party).

SALAMIS STORM 18 – Romanian defence minister, Mihai Fifor, alongside the Romanian Army Chief of Staff, general Nicolae Ciucă, is currently on a visit to Greece, to see the Multinational Exercise Salamis Storm 18. Participating in the training exercise are military from Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Serbia. It unfolds until Saturday and is aimed at training the military in order to cope with challenges specific to peace keeping and crisis solving operations.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, no.1 WTA and first seeded, is today playing in the quarter finals of the Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam tournament of the year, against German Angelique Kerber, no.12 WTA. The two players last met in the semi-finals of the Australian Open this year, when Halep won a dramatic match. The Romanian player is trying to win her first Grand Slam trophy, after the finals she lost in Paris, in 2014 and 2017, and in Melbourne, this year. Todays winner will meet in the semi-finals the winner of the match between Garbine Muguruza of Spain, no.3 WTA, and Russian Maria Sharapova (no.28 WTA). In the other semi-finals, Sloane Stephens (no. 10 WTA) will face Madison Keys (no.13 WTA).

FOOTBALL – Romanias national football match defeated Finland, 2-0, in a friendly match played in the southern city of Ploieşti on Tuesday evening. We recall that Romania has failed to qualify for the World Cup, to be hosted by Russia. The national match will play its next match against Montenegro, on home turf, in September, in the Nations League.(Translated by D. Vijeu)

6 June 2018
The Justice Laws, under Scrutiny

In the one and a half years since the latest legislative elections, the judiciary has been a recurrent theme for the leftist government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. One by one, the justice laws, the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure were all refashioned. Power says it was absolutely necessary to bring these laws in line with the rulings of the Constitutional Court and to improve them so as to close the doors for abuse in the judicial system.

The Opposition, on the other hand, criticises the quasi-authoritarian manner in which the political majority changes the relevant legislation. Furthermore, together with magistrate associations and international bodies, Opposition MPs perceive this large-scale legislative process as a poorly disguised attack against the independence of the judiciary and an attempt to undermine the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, the spearhead of the fight against corruption.

A constant critic of the ruling coalition, President Klaus Iohannis has already announced he would resend the justice laws to the Constitutional Court. The Chamber of Deputies has already received for review the bill on the status of magistrates, which was already subject to an unconstitutionality ruling. The Constitutional Court found the text at odds with the Constitution, and a special parliamentary committee headed by the Social Democrat Florin Iordache operated a number of changes, including a redefinition of the concept of judicial error. The parliamentary majority decided that a judicial error takes place where judicial proceedings have been ordered in obvious breach of the relevant legislation, or when a final and binding ruling has been passed in violation of the law. The Opposition claims this definition is far from clear, and announced a new notification of the Constitutional Court is being considered. Here is Senator Alina Gorghiu of the National Liberal Party:

“I seriously doubt that the concept of judicial error has been regulated to the standards required by the Venice Commission, which is obviously why we will not hesitate to send it to the Constitutional Court. And this is not only to annoy Mr Dragnea, although I do not mind this, but because we believe the judicial system deserves better laws.”

Florin Iordache replies that the new definition is in line with the comments made by the Constitutional Court and better regulates the responsibility of magistrates:

“As we said from the very beginning, we want magistrates to be liable for bad faith or gross negligence, but we also want a good definition of what judicial error is, so as to make sure that moving against a magistrate is only possible in case of judicial errors. Unlike our colleagues in the Opposition, we actually came up with a text, we were constructive and offered a starting point for debate.”

Parliament’s agenda also includes talks on the suggested changes of the Criminal Code. The Higher Council of Magistracy has already notified all courts and prosecutor offices that it would not support the introduction in the Criminal Code of such offences as “bad faith,” “gross negligence” or other offences liable to infringe upon the independence of the judiciary.

(Translated by A.M. Popescu)

14 May 2018
The Week in Review (April 30-May 4)

Doina Cornea, a symbol of anti-communist resistance, has passed away

A symbol of anti-communist resistance in Romania, Doinea Cornea passed away on Thursday night after a long suffering. Born 89 years ago into a family of high moral and religious stature, Doina Cornea was a university professor with the French Department of the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj and in the 1980s she became famous for her public criticism of the Communist regime. Her letters were read on international radio stations and stirred the anger of the Romanian officials. As a result, she was fired from the university, and was arrested and beaten by the political police, the Securitate. She became one of the central figures of the anti-communist Revolution of 1989 and was one of the first to protest against the way in which the National Salvation Front, which took the reigns of power after the fall of the Communist regime, ruled the country. Pope John Paul II awarded her the Order of Saint Gregory the Great and King Michael I awarded her the Order of the Star of Romania. She also received the National Order of the Legion of Honor, the highest French order of merit for military and civil merits.

President Iohannis sends the justice laws back to the Constitutional Court

Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis has decided to send to the Constitutional Court the recently adopted justice laws. Rushed through parliament in December, in the form proposed by the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the laws had reached the stage where they were to be promulgated by the president. The president, however, has announced that he will send the laws to the Constitutional Court and will notify the Venice Commission. According to the head of state, the laws are not in line with either the domestic constitutional framework or the European standards regarding the status of magistrates, judicial organization and the functioning of the Higher Council of the Magistracy. Klaus Iohannis has stated that the new provisions damage the prosecutors’ status and enhance the risk of the justice process as such being blocked. Also, the president has stressed, structures are being created with the aim of controlling the magistrates and eliminating guarantees of the judiciary’s organizational independence, by enhancing the role of the Justice Minister, to the detriment of the Higher Council of the Magistracy. The ruling coalition believes that the head of state merely wants to delay the application of the laws, but the opposition has hailed the president’s move and has called for the resignation of the Justice Minister Tudorel Toader. In parliament, the Special committee in charge of analyzing the justice laws has started talks on the changes brought to the Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Civil Procedure Code.

The European Commission maintains its forecasts regarding Romania’s economic growth in 2018 and 2019

The European Commission has maintained its forecasts regarding Romania’s economic growth this year and next year, to 4.5% and 3.9% respectively. In its spring economic forecast published on Thursday, the Commission also signals the fact that the budget deficit would reach 3.4% of the GDP in 2018, also as a result of the significant increase in salaries in the public sector. At the same time, the inflation rate, which has been growing since 2017, will maintain its upward trend, though the pace will not be that fast in 2019. As regards the European level, economic growth is still solid, and that has helped reduce the level of unemployment down to the lowest rate in the past 10 years, as the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici has announced. The EU and the Eurozone economy will keep growing by 2.3% this year and 2% in 2019, which confirms the Brussels officials’ statement that Europe is not just in a stage of economic re-launch, but it is also solidly expanding.

World Press Freedom Day was celebrated across the world on may 3rd

World Press Freedom Day was celebrated across the world through various events. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a message conveyed on the occasion that the promotion of a free press represents everybody’s right to know the truth. In the past years, however, the media has been faced with several challenges, in particular the ‘fake news’ phenomenon, and in some countries even prestigious institutions have been accused of promoting this phenomenon. Moreover, according to the 2018 World Press Freedom Index, established by the Reporters Without Borders organization, the feelings of hate and hostility towards journalists have grown in the past years. World Press Freedom Day is also an opportunity to pay homage to those journalists who died while doing their job. According to the latest toll, 65 journalists were killed across the world in 2017. in Romania, the latest report, launched by Active Watch, shows that the mass-media in Romania is still used for propaganda, disinformation and intoxication. In the World Press Freedom Index Romania ranks 44th out of 180, ahead of the US and Italy, but after South Korea.

5 May 2018
April 26, 2018 UPDATE

ISRAEL – While on an official visit to Israel, a Romanian delegation made up of PM Viorica Dăncilă, Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu, and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea, was received on Thursday by President Reuven Rivlin. The Romanian officials said that strengthening cooperation with Israel was a priority, particularly considering the 70-year long tradition of diplomatic relations. The agenda of talks also included the appointment of a Romanian ambassador to Israel, given that the post has been vacant for almost one and a half years, the relocation of the Romanian Embassy to Jerusalem and regional topics like the situation in Syria and the Iranian nuclear file. On Wednesday, PM Viorica Dăncilă and her counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized the excellent level of bilateral relations. The Romanian prime minister voiced her satisfaction with the interest shown by the Israeli side in a proposed partnership that would generate joint projects in the field of new technologies. The participants also discussed means of cooperation in the military, strategic and cyber security fields. Also on Wednesday, the Romanian Prime Minister visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Centre, and had a meeting with the leader of the left-wing Opposition in the Israeli Parliament, Isaac Herzog.

JUDICIARY – The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis Thursday referred a regulation on the organisation of the Official Journal to the Constitutional Court. The President argues that the public company that runs the Official Journal of Romania cannot be subordinated to the Chamber of Deputies as long as the law stipulates no powers for the Chamber in this respect. Meanwhile, also on Thursday the High Court of Cassation and Justice decided to refer to the Constitutional Court a bill on alternatives to imprisonment, under which sentences below 5 years in prison may be switched to house arrest or to weekend detention in special centres. The Chamber of Deputies endorsed this bill on Wednesday.

PROTESTS – Deputy PM Viorel Ştefan Thursday promised the Romanian trade unions in the public healthcare sector that on May 2 he would come up with a solution to address the income losses in the sector. The unionists, who staged a rally in Bucharest on Thursday, announced they would not give up their protests. Several categories of healthcare staff claim their net wages have dropped since the implementation of the new tax and salary regulations, and they demand the scrapping of the current 30% cap on bonuses. The rally in Bucharest will be followed by a token strike on May 7, while May 11 is the announced start date of an all-out strike in the healthcare and social assistance sector.

EPP – Ludovic Orban, president of the National Liberal Party, in opposition in Romania, announced that the European Peoples Party (EPP), the political family to which his party is also affiliated, will have a common candidate for president of the European Commission. Orban discussed the topic in Brussels with the EPP president, Joseph Daul. The candidate, Orban added, will be elected in the EPP congress due in November in Helsinki. Orban also said that he had discussed with the EPP leaders the details of a common strategy to ensure job stability at European level, a strategy that also targets the Romanians who will work in the UK after Brexit.

TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, no 1 in the world, will take on CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) in Fridays quarter-finals of the WTA tournament in Stuttgart, which has 816,000 US dollars in total prize money. Halep previously defeated the Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova (18 WTA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. In last years edition of the Stuttgart tournament, Halep was defeated in the semi-finals.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

26 April 2018
March 26, 2018

CENTENNIAL — The Romanian Academy is toady hosting an event devoted to the celebration of 100 years since the Union of Bessarabia and Romania. Entitled “Romania and the Republic of Moldova — Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”, the agenda of the event includes keynote addresses by the vice-president of the Romanian Academy, Alexandru Surdu, Academy member Dan Berindei, Valeriu Matei, former Moldovan Education Minister and honorary member of the Romanian Academy. On Tuesday, the Parliament in Bucharest will convene in a solemn plenary session, which will debate and adopt a solemn declaration to celebrate the Union of Bessarabia with Romania. Attending will be President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, HRH Margareta, Custodian of the Royal Crown, as well as officials from the Republic of Moldova.

TALKS — Romania’s Justice Minister Tudorel Toader is today meeting his Serbian counterpart Nela Kuburovic in Belgrade. Toader said talks will also focus on the status of former Romanian MP Sebastian Ghita, who’s wanted in several criminal investigations and fled to Serbia, a non-EU state. Minister Toader said Romania has fulfilled its obligations and sent Belgrade authorities all the information needed for its extradition. We recall Sebastian Ghita fled the country in December 2016 and was caught in Serbia in April 2017.

JUSTICE — Parliament’s special committee for the justice laws today issued a favorable opinion on the modifications brought to the laws on judicial organization, the status of magistrates and the functioning and structure of the Superior Council of Magistracy. The documents were re-drafted as per the rulings of the Constitutional Court. The Chamber of Deputies last week passed the three modified versions of the laws. The Senate is the decision-making body in this matter. Representatives of the opposition have criticized the modifications, saying there are reasons to notify the Constitutional Court again. Some of the points in the new laws have prompted massive street protests and triggered the magistrates’ vehement disapproval.

MEETING — European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk are today holding talks in Varna, Bulgaria, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over efforts to re-launch the EU-Turkey dialogue. Talks will focus on a number of delicate topics, such as the degrading rule of law in Turkey, the two parties’ stand on migration and Turkey’s bid to join the EU. Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said talks will prove very difficult. Neither of the two parties want to sidetrack the talks, because the EU remains an important trade partner for Turkey, while in turn Turkey is a key ally for Europe in combating migration and terrorism, France Press reports.

ECONOMY — Germany was Romania’s top trade partner in 2017, accounting for 20% of Romania’s exports and imports, reads a recent Eurostat report. Italy, France and Hungary are next on the list of Romania’s top trade partners. At EU level, the United States and China together accounted for a third of EU trade in 2017. The value of two-way trade between the EU and the US stood at €631 billion, while two-way trade between the EU and China stood at €573 billion.

FIRE — At least 64 people were killed in a fire that engulfed a shopping center in Kemerovo, southwestern Siberia, the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations reports. The fire broke out on the third-floor, close to the cinema and a play area. Dozens of people are still missing. Eye-witness reports say no one was there to order an evacuation, hence some people tried to save themselves by jumping off the windows, many of whom are now being hospitalized and treated for serious trauma. The work of rescue teams is extremely challenging, as there is a risk for the whole building to collapse. Authorities have launched an investigation.

RESPONSE — Romania will announce later today its official response to the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergey Skripal in the UK, Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu on Monday told a press conference held jointly with his Lithuanian counterpart Linas Linkevicius. Melescanu said we need to show solidarity with the UK, especially in the context of Brexit, so as to prove the EU wants to maintain close relations with London in the field of defence and security once this country leaves the community bloc. In turn, the Lithuanian official said this case is a challenge for the entire international community, saying that such methods are unacceptable and require an appropriate response.

HANDBALL — The Romanian women’s national handball team on Sunday defeated the Olympic defending champions Russia at home, 26-25 as part of Group 4 of the 2018 European Championship preliminaries. Romania thus squared things off with Russia after losing the first match against them. Our team now has 6 points and tops the group tables, the same as Austria, which nevertheless has a lower goal average. Russia is third-ranked with 4 points while Portugal is last-placed with 0 points. The first two teams will qualify to the European Championship to be hosted by France this summer. Romania’s last two fixtures are against Austria away from home and Portugal on home turf. (Translated by V. Palcu)

26 March 2018
February 28, 2018

ANTI CORRUPTION – The Chief Prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate in Romania, Laura Codruta Kovesi, has today presented the 2017 activity report of the institution she has headed since May 2013. She has stated that last year was a difficult year for the fight against corruption, as it was fiercely challenged and questioned. Despite that, Mrs. Kovesi has announced that the anticorruption prosecutors solved more than 3800 cases, which is a record for the institution, and forfeited goods worth more than 200 million Euros. The presentation of the report comes against the background of the Justice Minister Tudorel Toader starting last week the procedure to dismiss Laura Codruta Kovesi. The final decision in this matter lies with the president of the country, Klaus Iohannis, who has stated that the Directorate and its leadership have been doing a very good job. Today, the head of state has said that he is waiting for a number of documents to substantiate his decision, stressing though that, quote we are far from dismissal.

VISIT – The first vice-president of the European Commission and European Commissioner for Better Regulation, Interinstitutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights Frans Timmermans will be paying a formal visit to Bucharest on Thursday. According to the European Commission Representation in Romania, he will meet with president Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila and the speakers of the two chambers of parliament, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu and Liviu Dragnea. Timmermans will also hold meetings with representatives of the judiciary and members of the parliamentary committee set up to amend the justice laws.

JUSTICE – Romanian President Klaus Iohanniss competence to appoint judges for the offices of president and vice-president of the High Court of Cassation and Justice comes in violation of the constitutional competence of the Superior Council of Magistracy, reads the Romanian Constitutional Courts decision on the modifications brought to the status of judges and prosecutors. On January 30th, the Constitutional Court advised that the law was, in its entirety, constitutional as regarded the criticism formulated by the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the National Liberal Party. Among other things, these modifications stipulate that the president and vice-presidents of the High Court of Cassation and Justice are appointed by Romanias president, based on the proposals made by the Judges Department of the Superior Council of Magistracy, and the head of state cannot refuse these appointments. The Constitutional Court noted that the presidents responsibility would be devoid of content if he would not be able to refuse the appointment of a magistrate, but the elimination of this right does not raise constitutionality issues, as it allows a stronger role to be played by the Superior Council of Magistracy as guarantor of the independence of the judiciary.

MOTION – The National Liberal Party has today filed in plenary sitting of the Chamber of Deputies a simple no-confidence motion against the Education Minister Valentin Popa. According to the Liberals, what the coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats has done with regard to education, was to close schools in the year in which we celebrate 100 years since the Great Union, to sack inspectors via fax machines because they failed to comply with the directions set by the party, and hold examinations outside the law. Also, the school dropout rate is on the rise, young people have no possibility to learn about trades in school, and diplomas are far from attesting competences. All these, the Liberals say, are alarm signals that call for an urgent dismissal of the education minister. The leader of the Liberal Group in the Chamber of Deputies Raluca Turcan has stated that this should happen before it is too late.

EXTREME WEATHER – Europe keeps being affected by the bad weather caused by a cold wave from Siberia. Severe weather warnings are in place in many countries neighboring Romania, and more roads and highways are likely to be closed. In Bulgaria, for instance, codes red and orange warnings have been issued for blizzard and frost. The Romanian Foreign Ministry has issues travel warnings for Hungary, Ukraine, Poland, France, Sweden and Ireland, which are all under codes yellow and orange for heavy snow, blizzard and frost. Extremely low temperatures have also been recorded in central Europe, in countries like Germany, Italy and Spain. From the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean, the cold wave, dubbed the Beast from the East by the British media, has claimed at least 24 lives in the past days and has severely hampered traffic. On the other hand, the Arctic region is faced with abnormally high temperatures, spiking over 30 degrees. (translated by Mihaela Ignatescu)

28 February 2018
February 21, 2018

MOTION – The simple motion against Labour Minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu, tabled by the National Liberal Party and debated upon in the Chamber of Deputies on Monday, has been rejected today by the Romanian MPs, with 157 votes against, 96 in favor and 16 abstentions. The signatories of the document, 60 Liberal MPs, have said that the transfer of social insurance contributions from employers to employees, starting January 1st, has resulted in pay cuts for around 2 million Romanians and that through the laws that she endorsed, Lia Olguta Vasilescu has created chaos in the public and private sectors. In turn, the Labour Minister has said that salaries cannot go down if the employer transfers the total expense with an employee to the latter’s gross salary, in keeping with the new salary law.

PROTESTS — Romanian trade unions in education are today protesting in the street against a series of fiscal measures which they say cause thousands of employees in the education system lose important amounts from their salaries. Unionists also demand the renegotiation of the public system salary law saying it has created discrimination between employees. They also want the pension law to be revised, so that the teaching staff can retire three years before the standard age. Protest actions are also scheduled for tomorrow.

VISIT — Romanian PM Viorica Dancila is today having a meeting with the European Commission President, Jean Claude Junker. This is the first official visit abroad of Romania’s new PM, Viorica Dancila. On Tuesday the Romanian PM held talks with the head of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani and with the European Council President Donald Tusk, on the EU Council presidency that Romania is taking over starting January 1st, 2019. Dancila has reaffirmed Romania’s firm support for the consolidation of the European project. In turn, Antonio Tanjani has again called on the Romanian Government to continue the battle against corruption, for the consolidation of the rule of law.

COURT — Romania’s Constitutional Court is today discussing several complaints submitted by the Save Romania Union (USR) about the revision in Parliament of the justice laws. The right-of-center Save Romania Union, in opposition, has signalled the unconstitutionality of some of the provisions of the law on the organisation and functioning of the Higher Council of Magistracy, the status of djudges and prosecutors and the law on the judicial organisation. According to the Save Romania Union, the three laws endorsed by Parliament undermine the independence of magistrates. The political power in Bucharest however, argues that the revision of the justice laws was needed, given that they have not been revised in over ten years. On the other hand, the political opposition, a part of the civil sociaty and the magistrates’ professional organisations are contesting the modifications, saying they only serve the vested inerests of some politicians and business people.

MOLDOVA — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is today meeting with the Moldovan deputy prime minister for European Integration, Iurie Leanca, who pays an official visit to Bucharest. On Tuesday, Leanca discussed with the Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu about the importance of keeping Moldova on the European agenda. Minister Melescanu reiterated Romania’s support for Moldova’s EU integration. Previously, Iurie Leanca met with the Romanian minister-delegate for European Affairs, Victor Negrescu. The latter said that the strategic goal of the cooperation between Bucharest and Chisinau is Moldova’s EU integration.

RROMA — Romania must speed up its efforts to combat discrimination, especially against the Rroma, and to protect all national minorities in a series of domains, according to a report of the Council of Europe’s Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. In the document, the Committee acknowledges the efforts of the Romanian authorities to promote the minorities’ culture and education, and guarantee the representation of national minorities in Parliament. However, the country should create a solid and coherent legal framework for the protection of minorities’ rights, given that the current legislation is confusing and makes room for contradictory interpretation, the report also says. (Translated by Elena Enache)

21 February 2018
February 7, 2018

DEBATE — The European Parliament in Strasbourg is today hosting a debate analyzing the rule of law and judicial overhaul in Romania. The decision to hold the debate was taken on January 18 in the European Parliament, in response to the ruling coalition’s modifications to the justice laws, which were harshly criticized by magistrates’ associations, the opposition as well as the European Union. On Tuesday Justice Minister Tudorel Toader met in Strasbourg with European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans as well as members of the Party of European Socialists, discussing the justice laws and their implementation, as well as the Government’s plans to amend the criminal and criminal procedure codes. After meeting with European Socialists, Toader expressed confidence that the EU has been misinformed over the justice reform in Romania.

CORRUPTION — The problem of corruption in Romania cannot be solved just by arresting suspects, putting public employees on trial and getting sentences, Laura Codruta Kovesi, the head of the National Anticorruption Directorate said earlier today, on the sidelines of a debate titled “Fraud and corruption in the field of public procurement”. Kovesi pointed out that prosecutors’ efforts should be backed by pre-emption and anticorruption education. In turn, Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar said maintaining public trust in the Romanian judiciary should be a priority for those working in the system. Lazar went on to say that any initiative aimed at amending criminal legislation ought to be grounded on impact studies.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT — Romania’s Constitutional Court is today discussing a notification filed by President Klaus Iohannis with respect to the modifications brought to the law allowing MPs, ministers, local elected officials, prefects and presidents of county councils to operate as individual traders. The President believes procedure was violated in this case, and that the Senate was supposed to be the decision-making body. In addition, Klaus Iohannis says that the rule-out of this incompatibility clause could diminish integrity standards and hinder the rule of law. The law goes against international integrity standards Romania has pledged to observe and is unconstitutional, the Presidency also says.

GERMANY — The Conservatives and Social-Democrats in Germany today reached an agreement to form a coalition Government, four months after legislative elections were held in this country. The Christian-Democratic Union, its ally from Bavaria the Christian-Social Union and the Social-Democratic Party managed to compromise over the distributions of ministries in the new cabinet. The parties also overcame divergences linked to the healthcare reform and tightening rules for short-term employment contracts. After a 20-hour round of talks, the German Social-Democrats, who ruled over 2013-2017 alongside the Conservatives, will get to keep the Labour, Social-Affairs, Justice, Finance and Foreign Affairs ministries. The Finance Ministry was previously held by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian-Democratic Union.

CLIMATE CHANGE — The European Parliament on Tuesday passed a law to limit industry-generated CO2 emission and start implementing the directives of the Paris agreement on climate change. Romania and Bulgaria were subject to derogation for using a new fund under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) aimed at modernizing fossil fuel-based heating systems. Informally approved by ministers from Member States, the new law will accelerate the cancellation of emission certificates on the carbon dioxide market, which cover some 40% of greenhouse gas emissions EU-wide. At the same time, under the new law, two additional funds will be created, with a view to increasing innovation and encouraging a switch to a low-carbon economy. An ETS Modernization Fund will help upgrade the energy systems of low-income EU states, including Romania and Bulgaria.

LAUNCH — The world’s most powerful space rocket, Falcon Heavy, today launched successfully from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Designed by billionaire Elon Musk, the rocket can carry twice the payload of the closest operational vehicle. Falcon Heavy is also fitted with auxiliary boosters which can be reused, thus saving millions of dollars on launch costs. Prior to the launch, the authorities said this would be a high-risk launch. Falcon Heavy was conceived to carry some 64 tons into orbit, the equivalent of five London double-deckers. Elon Musk confirmed that his 2008 Tesla Roadster is onboard the rocket, which is heading for the orbit of Mars, 225 million kilometers from Earth. Falcon Heavy is the largest and most powerful rocket launched in space after Saturn V, the rocket used for the Apollo space missions, which landed the first NASA astronauts on the Moon.

(Translated by V. Palcu)

7 February 2018
Constitutional Court to look at the justice laws

Plans to
amend the justice laws have already sparked new street protests this year in
Romania. The amendments, initiated by the leftist ruling coalition formed by
the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, have
been criticised by the right-wing opposition, civil society and some of the
magistrates, who say they aim to place the judiciary under political control.
Three pieces of legislation, on the status of magistrates, on judicial
organisation, and on the functioning of the Supreme Council of Magistracy, were
immediately challenged before the Constitutional Court by the National Liberal
Party, the main opposition party, and the High Court of Cassation and Justice.

Claimants say the three laws violate the Constitution and are confusing. On
Tuesday, the Constitutional Court accepted some of the complaints having to do
with the law on the status of magistrates and asked for a redefinition of the
concepts of judicial error, bad faith and grave negligence that appear in
the provisions on magistrates’ accountability. The president of the
Constitutional Court Valer Dorneanu said the court postponed for the 13th
of February a discussion of the complaints against the law on the functioning
of the Supreme Council of Magistracy.

Valer Dorneanu: The
court has not admitted some of the complaints that were insufficiently
motivated. It has admitted a series of complaints, including some against the
section of the law dealing with the accountability of magistrates, and has
requested a redefinition of the notions of ‘judicial error’, ‘bad faith’ and
‘grave negligence’.

Valer Dorneanu
also says the Court has admitted the complaints against the provisions dealing
with the role of the president of the country in the appointment of chief
prosecutors, complaints that seek to achieve a clearer division of roles
between the president and the Constitutional Court. President Klaus Iohannis,
who attended the Supreme Council of Magistracy’s first meeting this year, also
criticised the way in which the new justice laws were passed. He was hoping at
the time that the laws would be improved and that the Constitutional Court
judges would analyse them with professionalism and objectivity.

The amendments
to the justice laws have also caused concern at the top of the European Union.
A week ago, the European Commission voiced its concern about the recent
developments in Romania and called on Parliament to reconsider the changes to
the justice laws. According to the Commission, the independence of the judicial
system and its ability to fight corruption efficiently are the cornerstones of
a strong Romania within the European Union. (translated by Cristina Mateescu)

31 January 2018
January 23, 2018 UPDATE

SCHENGEN – Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday stated, at the annual meeting with the heads of the diplomatic missions accredited to Bucharest, that Romania’s joining the Schengen area is essential. He has also stated that the logistics needed for Romania’s holding the presidency of the EU Council in 2019 must be properly prepared. The head of state has given assurances that Romania will keep taking part in the debates on strengthening the economic and monetary union and has added that unless it joins the Schengen area, Romania will not enjoy all the benefits ensured by its EU integration. The president has also stated that Romania’s foreign policy pillars are the strategic partnership with the US and its membership to the EU and NATO. Klaus Iohannis has also stated that Bucharest firmly pleads for strengthening trans-Atlantic ties.

OPPOSITION – The National Liberal Party, the main opposition party in Romania, on Tuesday presented the so-called “black book of the ruling coalition”. The president of the party Ludovic Orban has stated that 2017 was a lost year for Romania and the country is heading in the wrong direction from a democratic, economic and social point of view. According to the analysis made by the Liberals, out of the 724 measures that the government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats committed to implementing, only 33 were implemented, and as regards major fields such as education, health and the economy, less than 5% of the promised measures were taken. Also, budget expenditure exceeded revenues and the money was not used for development, it was mainly spent on personnel expenditure. The National Liberal Party also claims that when the coalition started ruling, the inflation rate was 0.2%, to then reach 3.3% in 2017. Previously, Orban had announced that the Liberals would establish the way in which they were going to act in Parliament, to prevent the validation of the new governmental team, headed by the Social Democrat MEP Viorica Dancila.

JUSTICE LAWS – The Constitutional Court on Tuesday delayed a decision on the challenges lodged by the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the National Liberal Party and Save Romania Union in opposition for January 30. The Court did announce that the law referring to the setup of a special Prosecutor’s Office responsible for investigating judges and prosecutors is constitutional. Magistrates believe that this breaks the principle of equality before the law, as they would become the only professional category in Romania to have a special office for their own prosecution. In turn, the Liberals say that the changes brought to the justice laws break several constitutional principles, including the senators’ and deputies’ right to have legislative initiatives. On Saturday, dozens of thousands of people protested again against the ruling coalition in Romania, whom they blame for trying to subordinate magistrates and to put an end to the fight against corruption. The changes in the justice laws have also been criticized by president Klaus Iohannis, the media and some of Romania’s western partners.

IMF – In an update on its bi-annual “World Economic Outlook”, the International Monetary Fund estimates that world economy will increase its growth rate to 4% in 2018 and 2019. Also, the report reads that last year, economic activity in Europe and Asia was surprisingly better than estimated, so the fund has revised upwards its estimates for the Eurozone, in particular for Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. According to the IMF, the US economy would register an economic growth rate of 2.7% in 2018, but that would slow down to 2.5% in 2019. The Chinese economy would register a rate of 6.6% this year, and 6.4% in 2019. As regards Romania, in its “World Economic Outlook”, published in October 2017, the IMF revised the growth rate estimated for Romania in 2018, from 3.4% to 4.4%.

FLU – A 40-year old woman has died in Botosani, north-eastern Romania, of complications triggered by the flu. This is the third death caused by flu viruses this year in Romania, after a 69 year old woman in Bucharest and a 15-year old boy in Salaj, north-western Romania. The Health Minister Florian Bodog has called on family doctors to continue the anti-flu vaccination campaign this month too, especially of people who are at risk. According to the National Centre for Disease Surveillance and Control, the total number of cases of acute respiratory infections has reached 75,000. Specialists say that, as compared to the same period last season, the total number of ill people is smaller by some 25%.

PACE — Senator Titus Corlatean, the head of Romania’s Parliamentary delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, was elected vice-president of the Assembly in 2018 for the second time in a row. The election was made on the sidelines of a PACE session in Strasbourg. Titus Corlatean was also designated PACE rapporteur for the emergency debate “The Peacemaking Process in the Middle East: the contribution of the Council of Europe”. Scheduled for Thursday, the debate will also occasion a report presented by Corlatean, who will also submit a resolution on this topic to the Assembly for approval.

TENNIS – The pair made up of the Romanian tennis players Irina Begu and Monica Niculescu has qualified for the semifinals of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, after a 3 set victory against the US couple Jennifer Brady/Vania King. Next, Begu and Niculescu will take on the Russians Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina, who won the title in Melbourne back in 2014. On Wednesday, Romania’s only representatives in the singles, Simona Halep, takes on Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. Halep is the world’s number one player and also first-seed at the Australian Open. (Translated by M. Ignatescu & V. Palcu)

23 January 2018
November 23, 2017 UPDATE

SUMMIT — Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis on Friday is attending the fifth Eastern Partnership summit held in Brussels under the Estonian Presidency of the European Council. According to the presidency, Klaus Iohannis will encourage a robust policy in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood, an area that must become a predictable, stable and prosperous space, devoted to European values and principles by means of irreversible reforms. On this occasion, EU leaders will agree on a set of 20 objectives to be included on a roadmap for 2020. Launched in 2009, the Eastern Partnership is aimed at promoting the political and economic integration of six EU partner states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

NO CONFIDENCE VOTE — The censure motion filed by the right-wing opposition against the coalition Government was rejected on Thursday in Parliament, with only 156 votes in favour. To pass the motion needed 233 votes. Signed by MPs from the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union, the People’s Movement Party and by independent MPs and read out in Parliament on Monday, the motion called for the resignation of the cabinet led by the Social Democrat Mihai Tudose, whom they accused of disturbing the economic environment and the legal system, and of worsening the population’s living standards. In response, the Prime Minister claims that thanks to the fiscal reform, more money will go to the budget and the pension fund next year, and companies will benefit from simplified procedures.

JUSTICE LAWS — In Bucharest the special parliamentary committee on the justice laws on Thursday decided that the Romanian President should no longer be able to refuse the appointment of judges and prosecutors. The Liberals’ representatives have criticized this proposal and have explained that the Romanian President is also the head of Romania’s Supreme Defense Council and should have the right to refuse the appointment of a judge or of a prosecutor. The committee’s proceedings started on Wednesday and the debates have been marked by disputes between the power and a part of the opposition. The Liberal MPs left the room, being discontented with the rejection of their proposal that the justice laws package be debated in a normal parliamentary procedure and not by a special committee. The justice laws are vehemently contested by civil society. President Klaus Iohannis has also said he is worried about this issue.

RULING — Romania’s Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled against a notification filed by Senate Speaker Calin Popescu-Tariceanu over a possible legal conflict between the Cabinet and the Public Ministry, regarding Government decrees. The notification was filed after the National Anticorruption Directorate started investigating two former members of the current Government — Sevil Shhaideh, who acted as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development, and Rovana Plumb, who held the European Funds portfolio. The two resigned last month in the wake of accusations that parts of the Belina island and the Pavel arm of the Danube were illegally transferred from state property into that of the Teleorman County administration, under a government decision. At the time Shhaideh was Minister for Regional Development and Plumb was Environment Minister

COUNCIL — The country’s Supreme Defense Council will convene next Tuesday, the presidency has announced. Chaired by President Klaus Iohannis, the meeting has several topics on its agenda, including plans for deploying armed forces in external missions in 2018 and the status of implementing the decisions of the NATO Summit of Warsaw. Talks will also focus on measures Romania has taken to implement sanctions adopted at international level, the presidency also reports.

BREXIT — On December 4 the British Parliament will start debating the law on leaving the European Union, the House of Commons in London has announced. Facing fierce opposition in Parliament, the law provides for the severing of political, financial and judicial ties with the community bloc, as well as transposing several items of European legislation into British law, after the United Kingdom leaves the EU in March 2019, Reuters reports. In another development, also on December 4, Prime Minister Theresa May will meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and EU Chief negotiator for Brexit Michel Barnier in Brussels. The EU hopes May will come up with new proposals to steer negotiations forward, Reuters further reports. (Translated by V. Palcu)

23 November 2017
November 16, 2017 UPDATE

PRESIDENCY – Romanias president Klaus Iohannis travels to Gothenburg, in Sweden, on Friday, to attend a social summit on fair jobs and economic growth. The event brings together EU heads of state and government, social partners and other key players. The summit consists of an introductory meeting and three other meetings focusing on specific themes that will discuss access to the labour market, the situation of the labour market and the transition between jobs. The Romanian president Klaus Iohannis is to give a talk on the access to the labour market.

NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION – The National Liberal Party, the main party in opposition in the Parliament of Romania, announced that it would table a no-confidence motion on Friday against the government made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania. The Liberals main criticism against Mihai Tudoses Cabinet concerns the changes in the tax code. The new version of this law switches the responsibility for social security payments from employers to employees and cuts income taxes from 16 to 10%, as of January 1, 2018. Over the past few weeks, street protests have been held in Bucharest and other major Romanian cities against the governments plans to change the tax code and the laws on the judiciary. On the other hand, PM Tudose claims that the new fiscal reform would result in more money to the state budget and social security budget, and will reduce bureaucracy.

JUDICIARY – The Constitutional Court of Romania postponed to next week the ruling on a notification filed by the Senate Speaker Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu with respect to an alleged conflict between the Government and the Public Ministry over government resolutions. The notification was tabled against the backdrop of an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, concerning 2 former members of the current Cabinet, namely the former deputy PM and minister for regional development Sevil Shhaideh, and former minister for European funds Rovana Plumb. They resigned a month ago, after being accused in this case. The National Anti-Corruption Directorate claims that in 2013 two plots of land in the Danube plains were illegally transferred, under a government resolution, from state property into the property of Teleorman County and the management of the Teleorman County Council. At that time, Shhaideh was a secretary of state with the Ministry for Regional Development, and Plumb was minister for the environment.

EU AGENCY – The assessment made by the European Medicines Agency on its possible relocation from London to Bucharest exceeds its responsibilities, says the Romanian foreign ministry. The assessment made by the Agency, argues the Romanian ministry, should have only covered a number of specific aspects to facilitate a final assessment of the European Commission. The Romanian side is also unhappy with the content of the Agencys report. The winner of the bid to host the European Medicines Agency after the UK leaves the European Union will be announced on the 20th of November. Now based in London, the European Medicines Agency is considered one of most important of the European Unions 40 specialised agencies. It employs 900 people and receives visits from around 35,000 national regulation authorities and scientists every year given its essential role in approving new medicines on the European market. Bucharest has made a bid to host this agency along with other big cities in the EU.

AUTOMOTIVE – The sale in Europe of Dacia cars made by Renault in Romania saw a 20.3% growth in October compared with the same month last year, while its market share grew from 2.6 to 2.9%, according to statistics made public on Thursday by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. In the first ten months of the year, deliveries of Dacia cars saw an 11.3% increase in Europe. The Dacia car factory was taken over by Renault in 1999. Relaunched in 2004 with the Logan model, Dacia has become an important player on the European car market.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu, Cristina Mateescu)

16 November 2017
November 9, 2017 UPDATE

FINANCIAL National Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu has warned that the Romanian national currency, the leu, faces the danger of depreciation, as imports grow disproportionately to exports. He said that the National Bank reviewed its expectation for inflation at the end of the year, from 1.9% to 2.7%. For the end of 2018, the National Bank estimates a 3.2% rate of inflation. The main inflationary points of pressure, according to the governor, are rising production costs, rising wages and growing uncertainty in energy pricing. The National Institute of Statistics announced that the countrys trade deficit in the first three quarters went up to 8.8 billion Euro. According to analysts, this imbalance between imports and exports puts pressure on the Euro-leu exchange rate. In addition, uncertainty regarding proposed changes to the fiscal code, harshly criticized by trade unions, employers and the head of state, caused the leu to depreciate sharply on Wednesday against the Euro, reaching the lowest level in the last five years.

VOTE The Higher Council of the Magistrates on Thursday gave a nay vote to a series of draft amendments to Justice Laws coming from the Chamber of Deputies. The General Assembly of the anti-mafia prosecutors on Tuesday voted against the project accusing what they called ‘the incoherence of the debating process and professional consultancy’ of the magistrates. The law package was high on the agenda of talks the Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader held in Brussels with the First Vice-president of the European Commission Frans Timmermans.

LAW The law on funding political parties and election campaigns is unconstitutional, Romania’s Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday approving notification from 50 opposition MPs. The court decided that the law runs against the principle of bicameralism, because the Chamber of Deputies as a decision-making body has passed a significant number of amendments, and that has radically changed the text adopted by the Senate. Among the new amendments proposed and voted on in the Chamber of Deputies there are the abrogation of a provision on confiscating contributions to election campaign and the setting up of a minimum threshold for the sums allotted to political parties.

ESTIMATES The European Commission has revised up its estimates on Romania’s economic growth and deficit for 2017 and 2018, cautioning that uncertainties in implementing government policies might affect the country’s economic growth. According to the autumn economic estimates published by the European Community on Thursday, the Romanian economy will register a 5.7% growth in 2017 against the spring estimates of only 4.3%. The European Commission has also revised up its estimates for 2018 from an initial 3.7% in spring up to 4.4%. According to these estimates, Romania saw a stepped-up GDP growth in 2017 thanks to private consumption. Its public deficit is to reach 3% of the GDP in 2017 and 3.9% in 2018.

BREXIT A new round of talks between the EU and London on the Brexit kicked off on Thursday in Brussels. The priority issues are the costs of the break-up, the rights of European and British citizens on each others territories, and the problem of the Irish-Northern Irish border. Guy Verhofstadt, the European negotiator for the Brexit, said that the guarantees offered by London regarding the rights of European citizens while in Britain were insufficient. The British government has announced recently that most EU citizens living in the UK will have the right to stay after the Brexit, in March 2019. They will have two years to apply for residency. The legal status and rights of EU citizens are key aspects in the convoluted process of Britain leaving the Union. Around 3 million EU citizens live on British territory at this point.

9 November 2017
The justice laws, under debate

Described by specialists and pundits as one of the most widely spread and toxic forms of corruption, abuse of office continues to fuel heated debates in the Romanian Parliament. On Wednesday, MPs on the relevant parliamentary committee which should harmonise any piece of legislation in the field of justice with the rulings issued by the Constitutional Court no longer talked about redefining “abuse of office” as had been previously announced by the head of the committee, former Social-Democrat Minister Florin Iordache.

He had earlier announced that establishing a threshold of some 19,000 lei, that is less than €5,000, for the prejudice produced as a consequence of “abuse of office” would not affect anyone. The National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union, in opposition, have criticised this delay and accused the power of trying to avoid an honest debate on the idea of introducing a financial threshold. Liberal MP Ioan Cupşa has reiterated that his party does not intend to establish a threshold, although this is one of the requirements made by the Court. “People are very emotional about this issue”- the head of the legal committee of the Senate, Robert Cazanciuc, has admitted.

Himself a former minister, a couple of years ago, in the Social Democratic cabinet led by Victor Ponta, Cazanciuc says Romania needs a piece of intelligible legislation in the field, to the understanding of each citizen. He has also said that various versions referring to the abuse of office have been submitted to the relevant committee and underlined that, if the Social-Democrats haven’t come up with another proposal yet, it means that they haven’t embraced a clear standpoint yet.

The power-opponents accuse the majority made up of the Social Democratic Party-the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania that by introducing as higher a threshold as possible for the prejudice that has been created, they try to protect their party members accused of abuse of office, starting with the strongman of the coalition, the Social-Democrat Liviu Dragnea. The suspicions of the opposition, civil society and the press are fuelled by a more extensive package of laws meant to reform the judiciary and promoted by the incumbent line minister, Tudorel Toader.

With the declared aim of bringing the legislation in line both with the rulings issued by the Constitutional Court and the latest evolutions in society, the draft law stipulates that the country’s president will no longer be involved in the procedure of appointing head prosecutors and it places the Judicial Inspection Corps from under the umbrella of the Higher Council of the Magistracy to the subordination of the line ministry. “If this mixture of measures is adopted by the government and endorsed by Parliament, Romania’s efforts in the past ten years or more, will be erased, and the justice system will return to a period when it was subordinated to politics”- President Klaus Iohannis warned last year. In turn, civil society announces that on Sunday, it will resume the already famous anti-government protests, under the slogan “We are not a nation of thieves”. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

2 November 2017
July 27, 2017

LEGISLATION – The Government of Romania is discussing today a bill on vaccination, which lays down responsibilities for the authorities, healthcare staff and parents. The bill is designed to regulate the organisation and financing of vaccination in Romania, and to raise awareness on the benefits, safety, quality and possible adverse reactions of vaccines. The bill also provides for a national reserve stock covering at least the annual vaccine needs, with doses valid for at least one and a half years. The bill was drafted after the large number of measles cases and deaths caused by this disease prompted the World Health Organisation to include Romania in the 5 countries that total over 80% of the number of cases reported worldwide. We have more on this after the news.

MOLDOVA – The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova has dismissed today as unconstitutional an order signed by the pro-Russian Socialist President Igor Dodon regarding a planned referendum in September. The Court president, Tudor Panţâru, quoted by Radio Romania correspondents in Chişinău, said that by signing that order Dodon breached the Constitution. According to the order, the referendum scheduled for September 24 was designed to give the President increased powers in order to dismantle Parliament and call early elections. The Moldovan pro-European Liberals challenged the order and notified the Constitutional Court.

EXPO 2017 – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Teodor Meleşcanu, is on a visit to Kazakhstan today and tomorrow, to take part in the official ceremony occasioned by Romanias Day at “Expo 2017 Astana. Future Energy and to mark 25 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. According to a news release issued by the Foreign Ministry, during the visit Teodor Meleşcanu will have political talks with his counterpart, Kairat Abdrakhmanov, and meetings with officials and lawmakers in Kazakhstan. He will also visit Karaganda region, home to an important Romanian community. Expo 2017 Astana brings together participants from 114 countries and is due to end on September 10. Romanias stand will present the most powerful laser in the world, which is currently being built in Magurele, southern Romania.

JUSTICE – The Romanian Justice Minister, Tudorel Toader, discussed the progress in implementing the recommendations of the latest Cooperation and Verification Mechanism report, during a meeting with the first vice-president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, in Brussels on Wednesday. Tudorel Toader emphasised that reforms in the judiciary will be operated in a transparent manner, based on public debates and consultations, and will follow the regular parliamentary procedure. In turn, Timmermans appreciated the major progress made by Romania in reforming its judicial system and fighting corruption, and said Brussels was expecting further improvement in this respect.

ART – As part of a Romanian-American cultural exchange project, the National Museum of Maps and Old Books in Bucharest and Blue Hill Art and Cultural Center put together an exhibition on contemporary American printmakers. The exhibition includes 34 works by 11 American artists, and the opening ceremony takes place today in Bucharest.

FOOTBALL – The 3 Romanian teams taking part in Europa League are playing tonight, on home turf, in the first leg of the competitions third preliminary round. Universitatea Craiova takes on the Italian side AC Milan, Dinamo Bucharest plays against Athletic Bilbao, and Astra Giurgiu against the Ukrainian team FK Oleksandria. On Wednesday night, Romanian champions FC Viitorul Constanţa defeated APOEL Nicosia 1-0, in the first leg of the third preliminary round of the Champions League. On Tuesday, in the same stage of the competition, vice-champions FCSB (formerly Steaua Bucharest) drew at home, 2-2, against the Czech side FC Viktoria Plzen. The second leg is scheduled for next week.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

27 July 2017