Radio România Internațional

Tag: EC

  • June 29, 2019

    June 29, 2019

    PSD Congress — Over 4 thousand Social Democrats have gathered today for an extraordinary congress to elect their president, vice-president and secretary general. On Friday the PSD National Executive Committee validated the candidates running for the leading positions in the party. 4 Social Democrats are running for the president position, the incumbent PM Viorica Danciala, interim president of the PSD, running as favorite. The position became vacant one month ago when the party’s strongman Liviu Dragnea was sentenced and imprisoned for corruption.



    Festival – The European Film Festival is back to Sibiu (in central Romania) bringing 7 new films as well as a 1990s classic. The festival opened on Friday with the film ‘Lazar the Happy’ directed by Alice Rohrwacher winner of the best script award in 2018 at the Cannes Festival. Until Sunday when the festival ends, film lovers have the opportunity to also watch a romantic drama “Memoir of Pain” a French-Belgian coproduction directed by Emmnauel Finkiel, a political thriller “Power Games” by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, the comedy “Woman at war” by Benedikt Erlingsson, Bálint Kenyeres’ film “Yesterday”, “Son of Sophia” by Elina Psykou, “Julia” by Elena Martín and the classic “My Left foot” a 1989 production by Irish director Jim Sheridan. This year the European Film Festival has also been venued in Bucharest, Râmnicu Vâlcea (south), Târgu Mureș (center) and in Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova.



    Olympiad — Romania’s geography Olympic teams (juniors and seniors) have won 6 gold medals (4 for the juniors and 2 for the seniors) and 2 silver medals (for the seniors) at the 5th edition of the International Geography Olympiad for Central, South and South Eastern Europe. According to the Romanian Education Ministry, the results have placed Romania on top position in the nations’ classification. The contest included three exams testing written, practical and multimedia skills. This year’s edition held in Belgrade between June 23 and 29 was attended by 78 students from 8 countries.



    Europe — The European leaders have come closer to reaching an agreement over appointments to the main positions in the European institutions. The statement was made by the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, on the sidelines of the Osaka summit. The European official stated that he had permanent consultations with the European leaders but a decision is expected to be made during Sunday’s meeting of the heads of state and government in Brussels. Besides the presidency of the EC, which is the most craved position, appointments need to be made, maintaining a political and geographical balance, to the positions of president of the European Council, of president of the European diplomacy, of president of the European Central Bank and of president of the European Parliament. The new EP meets for its first session next week in Strasbourg and the MEPs will have to elect their president, vice-presidents and quaestors.



    Transfagarasan — Road traffic on the high-altitude segment of the famous Transfagaragan route (in central Romania) was opened on Saturday for all categories of vehicles. Dubbed ‘the road among the clouds’ Transfagarasan is one of the most scenic routes of Romania, being located at an altitude of 2,042 meters. Built in 1974 the road measures almost 92 kms and links the southern region of Muntenia with the central region of Transylvania crossing the Fagaras Mountains. In 2009 the producers of the famous Top Gear show of the BBC station declared Transfagarasan the most beautiful road in the world. Road traffic on Transfagrasan had been closed on November 1, 2018 due to weather conditions. (translation by L. Simion)

  • April 4, 2019 UPDATE

    April 4, 2019 UPDATE

    Referendum — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Thursday announced that the themes which he would submit to the vote at the May 26 referendum, held simultaneously with the EP elections, are related to forbidding amnesty and pardon of corruption crimes and forbidding the government to pass emergency decrees related to criminal offences and punishments, correlated with the right of other authorities to notify the Constitutional Court over such decrees. The Romanian citizens are called to decide whether they want the effects of a person’s convictions to be erased and whether they want to allow the government to continue passing emergency decrees on sensitive issues such as the organization of the judiciary and the criminal legislation, the president added. He again warned the governing coalition not to pass emergency decrees targeting criminal legislation before the citizens can have their say in the referendum. The Social Democratic Party announced it was not opposed to the themes of the referendum on justice while the opposition Liberal Party said the president’s initiative was very good for the society.



    European Prosecutor — The investigation of the former chief prosecutor of the National Anti-corruption Directorate in Romania, Laura Codruta Kovesi at this very moment is an obvious obstacle to her candidacy to the position of European chief prosecutor, the European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Vera Jourova, said Thursday, in Bucharest. In Brussels, the negotiators of the EP and of the Council of the EU have not reached a consensus over the appointment of the European chief prosecutor, a position for which Laura Codruta Kovesi is also running. She is backed by the EP while the Council of the EU supports the French Jean-Francois Bohnert. According to regulations in force, the EP and the Council of the EU appoint jointly a European chief prosecutor for a 7-year term which cannot be renewed. On Wednesday, the EC and the EP reiterated their support for Kovesi. After the president of the EP Antonio Tajani asked the Romanian authorities to stop obstructing her candidacy to the European public prosecutor’s office, Romania’s High Court of Cassation and Justice lifted the judicial restrictions placed on Kovesi last week by the prosecutors of a new special department for the investigation of magistrates as part of a case in which Kovesi is accused of abuse of office, bribe taking and false testimony. The last date scheduled for negotiations between the EP and the Council of the EU is April 10.



    Bratislava — The Romanian PM Viorica Dancila is paying an official visit to Slovakia on Friday where she will meet with her counterpart Peter Pellegrini. According to a government communiqué, the visit is aimed at deepening cooperation between the two states from a bilateral, European and regional perspective. The agenda of the PM’s visit also includes a visit to the city of Banska Bystrica where she will hold talks with the Slovak PM and will lay a flower wreathe in the Slovak National Uprising Square. The Romanian official will also go to Zvolen, at the military cemetery where more than 10 thousand Romanian soldiers, killed in the fight for the liberation of Czechoslovakia from the Nazi occupation, are buried. (translation by L. Simion)

  • The Challenge of Migration

    The Challenge of Migration

    Faced with the most serious refugee crisis after WWII, the European Union has managed to bring a radical change with respect to the management of migration and the protection of borders. However, additional efforts are needed for the EU migration policy to be able to cope with future challenges. Recently, the European Commission has reiterated its call for the drafting of a common EU strategy on migration, including the thorny issue of migrants’ reception after disembarking on community space.



    In a press release, the European Commission says migration remains a sensitive topic in the context of the European elections, which causes fears with respect to the growing popularity of eurosceptic parties, while the EU states remain in diverging positions vis-à-vis the Dublin Regulation and the establishment of a common asylum policy over different points of view with regard to the mandatory distribution of migrant quotas among EU member states, an initiative rejected by some east-European countries, especially those in the Visegrad Group. Europe is no longer experiencing the migration crisis we lived in 2015, but structural problems remain, warns the first vice-president of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, recalling that, in the last four years, the European Union has seen significant progress and obtained concrete results in addressing the challenges of migration.



    In very difficult circumstances, we acted together, Timmermans also said, adding: Continuing to work together through a comprehensive approach, in solidarity, and with a fair sharing of responsibility, is the only way forward if the EU is to be equal to the migration challenge. In its latest report, the Commission shows that 2018 saw an almost 90% drop in the number of people who tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe. Centralised data also show that migration to the EU via Greece and Italy diminished, but grew via Spain, in the western part of the Mediterranean Sea.



    The European Commissioner for Migration, Dimitris Avramopolous, explains:


    In the Western Mediterranean, Spain is under particular migratory pressure. We continue to stand by Spain as we have done and will continue doing with all the Member States under pressure. We already provided nearly 36 million euros of emergency assistance last year and we are ready to provide Spain the technical, financial, and political support it needs. At the same time, it is also clear that we need to strengthen our relationship with Morocco. […] We look forward to developing a closer, deeper and more ambitious partnership with Morocco. This begins by completing the implementation of the 140 million euro support package for Morocco that focuses on improving their border management capacity.



    In the last three years, the number of arrivals has dropped constantly to reach today a figure that represents around 10% of the maximum level reached in 2015. But this drop is not guaranteed in the future if the migration pressure is maintained on the borders. Therefore, it is essential to take measures for each of the four pillars of European agenda on migration. This refers to combating the factors that favour irregular migration, a stricter border control, protection and asylum measures, as well as legal migration and integration.



    Here is Dimitris Avramopoulus again:


    Our external borders are better managed and better protected than ever before. The European Border and Coast Guard Agency brought about a steep change in our common border management culture. But we want to help and support Member States even more in securing our external borders. […] But no matter how secure and protected our external borders are, Europe will still have to uphold its duty to provide assistance to those fleeing war or persecutions. Europe will still need to better manage migration within Europe, both of those staying legally and irregularly. For instance, we have to be able to stop secondary movements or asylum shopping. This is why we equally need to finalize the reform of our Common European Asylum System. […] I welcome that the Romanian Presidency already started working towards putting in place such arrangements, and I count on Member States to engage.



    Moreover, the European Commission asks member states to encourage legal migration and integration as factors of discouraging irregular arrivals.


  • Frans Timmermans pleads for the rule of law in Romania

    Frans Timmermans pleads for the rule of law in Romania

    The Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila and the First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans met in Bucharest on Monday and are also to pay a visit to Brussels next week. The big number of such meetings is imposed by Romania’s holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. On Monday, for instance, Frans Timmermans approached a sensitive issue for the Romanian authorities, namely the state of democracy and the rule of law.



    The changes brought to the justice laws, first by Parliament and then by means of an emergency decree, are questionable to say the least, and that has placed Romania’s partners in a state of alert. After the publication, last fall, of a report unfavorable to Romania, under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) on justice, Frans Timmermans now says that there’s been no progress, only a refusal by the Romanian Government to consider the Commission’s document.



    The EC official hopes that experts on both sides will find quick solutions for the implementation of the recommendations made part of the CVM. “We want to make sure”, Timmermans said, “that we can make progress on the rule of law in Romania, we want to make sure that the fight against corruption isn’t abandoned, that we continue this fight, because it’s very, very important for the future of this country.”



    Next week, Viorica Dancila and Frans Timmermans will have a new meeting, to discuss the topic. Actually, each contact that the First Vice-President of the EC and candidate to the office of EC president has with Romanians turns into a plea for the rule of law. On Monday, Frans Timmermans was awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa of the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA), and during his speech, he resumed his favorite topic. He admitted that he could not have imagined, three decades ago, that Romania would become a member of the EU in 2007. However, the privileges of integration come with responsibilities too, Timmermans pointed out, and one of them is to overcome the CVM phase.



    “Our society and our institutions are based on democracy, the rule of law and respect for fundamental human rights, none of which can be instrumentalised against each other”, Timmermans said. According to the EC official, it’s quite risky to believe that victory in elections gives a majority the right to increase control over the judiciary or the press. “(…) When the rule of law is threatened and press freedom is affected, almost automatically corruption increases”, Timmermans warned. That is why the European Commission has proposed that there should be a link between granting European funds and the member states respecting the rule of law, the First Vice-President of the European Commission explained.


  • 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)

  • Reactions to the European documents on Romania

    Reactions to the European documents on Romania

    Tuesday’s vote on the resolution issued by the European Parliament and the release of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism report by the EC, both equally critical of the performance of the Power in Bucharest, have fuelled the already heated debates and polemics on the Romanian political scene. The European assessments are like two bad grades for the current governance, says President Klaus Iohannis, a consistent critic of the cabinet made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats.



    Klaus Iohannis: “These multiple changes and intentions to change the justice laws and the Criminal Codes have drawn public attention in a negative way. These things are extremely detrimental to Romania. Obviously, these two documents are practically telling us that Romania slipped back to the point it was 11 years ago, before joining the union.”



    Her back against the wall, the Social Democratic Prime Minister, Viorica Dancila says Romania should not be judged by the documents drafted somewhere else and promises that her cabinet will respond.



    Viorica Dăncilă: “Let us not judge Romania now only based on certain criticism, some more or less real and realistic resolutions, based on certain things that some people are saying. We will respond to those things.”



    The leader of the Social Democratic Party and the strongman of the coalition, Liviu Dragnea, believes, in his turn, that beyond any resolutions and CVM report, other issues are important to Romania, such as healthcare and education. In turn, the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the junior party in the ruling coalition, Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, believes the CVM report is not objective and he accuses the European Commission of having politicised it.



    Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu: “The Commission steps into an unjustified political area, because the report is mainly a technical instrument and I’ve lately seen a series of political approaches which cast doubt on the way in which the Commission is working with the member states. I don’t believe the Commission could question the options made by the member states regarding some domains which don’t fall in what we can call the logics of subsidiarity.”



    In exchange, the leader of the National Liberal Party, in opposition, Ludovic Orban, is accusing the Power of pushing Romania to the outskirts of the continent.



    This standpoint is also shared by the President of the Save Romania Union, Dan Barna: “This government has managed to take Romania to the periphery of Europe. Now, we are clearly and explicitly behind Bulgaria as well, and the next step is outside Europe. This government should step down and we are calling for the resignation of this government. Liviu Dragnea and the Social Democratic Party are currently dragging Romania out of Europe, we are also lagging behind Bulgaria, with nobody left behind us.”



    The leader of the People’s Movement Party, Eugen Tomac, also says that after it has never synchronised itself with Brussels, the current government has got a red card from the community leaders.

  • Estimates on Romania’s economy

    Estimates on Romania’s economy

    Romania’s economic vigor has started to diminish, as shown by the autumn estimates of the European Commission made public on Thursday. The EC has revised significantly downwards its estimates on Romania’s economic growth for 2018, from 4.5% to 3.6%. In 2019 the country’s economic growth rate is expected to stand at 3.8% as compared to 3.9% as forecast in spring, while for 2020, the EC estimates a growth rate of 3.6%.



    Nevertheless, the Romanian finance minister, Eugen Teodorovici, said that the Romanian Government sticks to its 5.5% estimates regarding the country’s economic growth for 2018: “The government has made certain estimates, that you may well know, and we continue to maintain those estimates, in the sense that the country will report economic growth. Taking a look back, we can see that we were right, every year the estimates made by the government proved to be correct.”



    In exchange, the Liberal opposition represented by Senator Alina Gorghiu questions the government’s forecasts. According to her, the EC forecasts show that Romania’s economy is massively slowing down due to the policies of the government coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, and she called on the Social Democrat leader and the PM Viorica Dancila to present the reality of the Romanian economy.



    “Without manipulating the figures, a fact that will be unveiled by the European partners, the 2019 budget cannot be drafted so as to include the promises made the Social Democrats. I’m asking Liviu Dragnea, Viorica Dancila and Eugen Teodorovici to come out publicly and provide clear information about the real figures in the state budget and the Romanian economy.”



    According to the EC, Romania’s economic boom is subsiding as the private consumption rate is slowing down, and the negative contribution of net exports to growth continues to worsen. The EC also reports that, for the forecast period, the GDP is estimated to grow moderately. Private consumption remains the engine behind economic growth, the EC underlined, and the figures published on Thursday show that domestic demand will have a lower contribution to the GDP growth, of 4.2% as compared to 7.3% reported last year. The contribution of domestic demand is estimated to slightly increase at 4.3% in 2019 and to drop to 4.1% in 2020. As regards inflation, the EC revised slightly upwards, to 4.3%, its estimates for 2018 as compared to 4.2% as forecast in spring, with the consumption price index estimated to go down to 3.5% in 2019 and to 3.3% in 2020, as a result of lower domestic demand. In turn, Romania’s central bank has maintained its inflation forecast at 3.5% for the end of 2018 and increased it slightly for next year.

  • November 8, 2018 UPDATE

    November 8, 2018 UPDATE

    MEETING – The Romanian Interior Minister Carmen Dan is attending in Washington the EU-US Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting. At the meeting, Carmen Dan will present Romanias priorities in the field during its presidency of the EU Council in the first half of next year. The EU is represented in Washington by the Austrian ministers of the interior and justice, on behalf of the current Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the members of the delegation representing Romania, the country that is to take over the Presidency in January 2019, and the European Commissioners for migration, home affairs and security.



    ACCUSATION – The National Anticorruption Directorate claims that the Speaker of the Romanian Senate, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, indirectly received 800,000 USD dollars worth of material benefits from an Austrian company while he was Romanias Prime Minister, in 2007-2008. The amount accounted for a 10% commission from the value of addenda and was used for the benefit of the dignitary. The case was opened in 2018, by bringing together three criminal cases, of which one was taken over by the anticorruption prosecutors, at the request of the Austrian judicial authorities. In a communiqué issued at the request of Agerpress News Agency, the Directorate also mentions the fact that, in keeping with the legal and constitutional provisions in force, prosecuting Tariceanu for bribe-taking is possible only if endorsed by the Senate. Previously, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu had stated the Government made no payment in relation to the Microsoft licenses during his term as prime-minister. We recall that several people, including ministers, have been prosecuted in the so-called Microsoft case, for acts of corruption in relation to license agreements concluded for schools, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.



    EC – On Thursday, the European Commission decided to send Romania a formal letter calling on the Romanian authorities to stop using the split VAT payment mechanism. According to the Commission, the mechanism runs counter to both the EU regulations in the field and the freedom to provide services. In another move, also on Thursday, the Commission noted that an energy producer in Romania – the Hunedoara Energy Complex – has received incompatible state aid amounting to 60 million Euros. According to the EC Representation in Romania, the state must recover the illegal aid and the related interests.



    JUDGE PANELS – On Friday, the High Court of Cassation and Justice will designate, by drawing lots, the members of the five-judge panels for 2018. There are four panels consisting of five judges, two for criminal and two for civil matters. On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court admitted the notification filed by prime-minister Viorica Dancila regarding the formation of the 5-judge panels and decided there was a constitutional conflict between Parliament and the High court of Cassation and Justice. The Constitutional Court has decided that the latter should urgently take measures to form the 5-judge panels.



    EPP – On Thursday, the German politician Manfred Weber was elected candidate of the European Peoples Party (EPP) for the seat of president of the future European Commission (2019-2024). Weber, who got 80% of the votes, defeated the Finish Alexander Stubb. The Romanian parties members of EPP, the National Liberal Party, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians and Peoples Movement Party supported Weber. On Wednesday, the first day of the Congress, EPP adopted a resolution calling for the observance of the EUs fundamental values. The document reads that nationalist and populist extremism, disinformation, discrimination and failure to observe the rule of law are the biggest threats against freedom and democracy in Europe, after the fall of the Iron Curtain. We recall that the next EC is to be formed after next years elections for the European Parliament, due in spring.



    AIR BASE – On Friday, the Romanian Defense Minister Mihai Fifor and his Canadian counterpart Harjit Singh Sajjan pay a visit to the Mihail Kogalniceanu air-base in south-eastern Romania. According to the Romanian Defense Ministry, the two officials will meet with the Canadian detachment deployed in Romania. The 135 Canadian soldiers are taking part in air policing missions, under NATO command.



    HANDBALL – The Romanian mens handball team Dinamo Bucharest defeated Ademar Leon of Spain on home turf on Thursday, in a match part of Champions Leagues Group D. The victory brought Dinamo 10 points and made it top of the group. The main contenders for the qualification to the play-offs, are Ademar Leon, with 9 points, and Wisla Plock (Poland) and Elverum (Norway) with 8 points each. This is the third season for Dinamo Bucharest in the most important inter-club competition in the world.

  • November 7, 2018 UPDATE

    November 7, 2018 UPDATE

    Doha — The Romanian PM Viorica Dancila on Wednesday presided over an economic forum held in Doha, on the occasion of her official visit to Qatar. In this context, the PM presented the main projects and business opportunities that can be implemented by means of public-private partnerships as well as the intention of the Romanian authorities to cooperate more closely with businesspeople from Qatar. PM Dancila encouraged them to come and invest in Romania in key sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture, tourism and healthcare. She highlighted Romania’s geostrategic position and economic growth reported in the past years.



    Cooperation — The European company Airbus and the Romanian company IAR Ghimbav have signed a contract of exclusive cooperation for a period of 15 years for the production, in Romania, of the twin-engine multirole helicopter H215M. Airbus and IAR have been, for more than a decade, partners in the Airbus Helicopters Romania company, a successful center specializing in maintenance and repair work services for a wide range of civil and military helicopters from Romania and other countries. Export contracts account for 75% of the Airbus Helicopters Romania’s turnover. In 2016, Ghimbav saw the inauguration of the Airbus Helicopters Industries factory specialized in the production of H215M helicopters. IAR, a company with majority state-owned assets, is one of Romania’s leaders in the aeronautics field, being specialized in the production and maintenance of helicopters. Airbus is a world leader in aeronautics and services in the space domain.



    CCR — Romania’s Constitutional Court (CCR) on Wednesday admitted, with a majority of votes, the government’s notification regarding the existence of a juridical conflict of a constitutional nature between Parliament and the High Court of Cassation and Justice regarding the setting up of panels of judges. Thus, the High Court of Cassation and Justice is bound to take the necessary measures, as soon as possible, to appoint all the 5 members of the panels by drawing of lots, not only 4 judges as has happened since 2014. The panels of 5 judges with the High Court judging criminal cases are dealing with important cases in which politicians such as the PSD leader L. Dragnea, the leader of ALDE C. P. Tariceanu and the former head of the government’s general secretariat, Toni Grebla, a former judge with the Constitutional Court are also involved. Following the decision of the CCR many cases handled by the High Court of Cassation and Justice might be re-judged from scratch.



    Washington — The Romanian interior minister Carmen Dan will be the US on Thursday and Friday to participate in the EU-US Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting. At this high level meeting, which is also going to be attended by the US Attorney General, the Romanian minister will present the home affairs priorities of Romania’s future presidency of the EU Council. The meeting is organized by the Austrian presidency of the EU Council in Washington DC, according to a preset timetable, namely in the first half of the year, the venue of the meeting is in the state holding the presidency of the EU Council, while in the second half of the year, the venue is in the US capital. The EU is represented in Washington by the interior and justice ministers of the Austrian presidency of the EU Council, by Romania’s delegation, a country that will take over the EU Council presidency on January 1, 2019 and by the EU Commissioners for migration, home affairs and security.



    Ashgabat — The Romanian athlete Nicolae Onica on Wednesday won the bronze medal in the total event, the 96 kg category, at the World Weightlifting Championships held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. In the final classification he was outperformed by Iranian Sohran Moradi and Chinese Tao Tian. (new translated and updated by L. Simion)

  • European Funds for Romania

    European Funds for Romania


    The European Commissioner for European Funds Corina Creţu has traveled to Romania frequently, of late, to warn the central and local authorities that sustained efforts are needed to speed up the absorption of European funds and to cut back on the risk of losing the substantial amounts of community money allotted to Romania. However, these funds should be spent based on certain projects that should bridge the gaps separating Romania from the other EU countries. Besides the lack of interest, some of the causes for the current situation are the red tape, which blocks many actions, the Romanian additional legislation in the field and the contestation of tender results, which involves long settlement deadlines in court.



    Commissioner Corian Creţu: “I have always said that administrative capacity is more important than the money itself. In the recent discussions which I have held with the prime minister and the government representatives, I have pointed out to this very necessity of urgently tackling these issues, namely simplifying procedures, employing competent people, speeding up assessment and contracting of projects and providing support to beneficiaries or applicants.”



    During her visit to Bacău, in eastern Romania, Commissioner Creţu joined the PM Viorica Dăncilă for a meeting with the mayors of 39 of Romania’s county seats that receive direct European funds for development, urging them to send quality projects to Brussels. According to Corina Creţu, Romania was not ready to access European funds for such projects in January 2007 when it joined the EU. But the time has not run up yet. In a communiqué made public prior to her visit to Romania, Commissioner Creţu said that over one billion Euros would be invested in urban development in Romania, and the European Commission was ready to offer the necessary support to the Romanian authorities for these resources to be used more efficiently and faster. PM Viorica Dăncilă announced that the public purchase law would be modified with a view to reducing the deadlines for solving the contestations made after the tenders for European funds.



    PM Viorica Dăncilă: “We also intend to make projects for highways. We intend to build highways using European funds, and we’ll also rely on the public-private partnership law that has already been published in the Official Gazette.”



    Recently Corian Creţu has expressed concern over Romania risking to lose substantial European funds for transports.

  • European Funds for Romania

    European Funds for Romania


    The European Commissioner for European Funds Corina Creţu has traveled to Romania frequently, of late, to warn the central and local authorities that sustained efforts are needed to speed up the absorption of European funds and to cut back on the risk of losing the substantial amounts of community money allotted to Romania. However, these funds should be spent based on certain projects that should bridge the gaps separating Romania from the other EU countries. Besides the lack of interest, some of the causes for the current situation are the red tape, which blocks many actions, the Romanian additional legislation in the field and the contestation of tender results, which involves long settlement deadlines in court.



    Commissioner Corian Creţu: “I have always said that administrative capacity is more important than the money itself. In the recent discussions which I have held with the prime minister and the government representatives, I have pointed out to this very necessity of urgently tackling these issues, namely simplifying procedures, employing competent people, speeding up assessment and contracting of projects and providing support to beneficiaries or applicants.”



    During her visit to Bacău, in eastern Romania, Commissioner Creţu joined the PM Viorica Dăncilă for a meeting with the mayors of 39 of Romania’s county seats that receive direct European funds for development, urging them to send quality projects to Brussels. According to Corina Creţu, Romania was not ready to access European funds for such projects in January 2007 when it joined the EU. But the time has not run up yet. In a communiqué made public prior to her visit to Romania, Commissioner Creţu said that over one billion Euros would be invested in urban development in Romania, and the European Commission was ready to offer the necessary support to the Romanian authorities for these resources to be used more efficiently and faster. PM Viorica Dăncilă announced that the public purchase law would be modified with a view to reducing the deadlines for solving the contestations made after the tenders for European funds.



    PM Viorica Dăncilă: “We also intend to make projects for highways. We intend to build highways using European funds, and we’ll also rely on the public-private partnership law that has already been published in the Official Gazette.”



    Recently Corian Creţu has expressed concern over Romania risking to lose substantial European funds for transports.

  • April 14, 2018 UPDATE

    April 14, 2018 UPDATE

    SYRIA– President Klaus Iohannis said on Saturday in a message he posted on Twitter that Romania further condemns the use of chemical weapons in Syria and expresses solidarity with the actions taken by its strategic partners. The Romanian Foreign Ministry also firmly condemns the use of chemical weapons in any circumstances, as the carrying out of such actions is totally unjustifiable and pleads for bringing to justice all those proven guilty of perpetrating such an act, following an investigation.The statements are made after the US, the UK and France on Sunday night launched the most massive attack against Syrian targets since the start of the civil war, in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the regime in Damascus against its own citizens. US President Donald Trump has confirmed overnight precision strikes had been launched against targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of the Syrian government. British PM Theresa May has said it is about a limited and targeted strike that does not further escalate tensions in the region and that does everything possible to prevent civilian casualties, whereas the French President, Emmanuel Macron, said the Syrian actions were a threat to collective security. Russia, which supports the regime of Bashar Al-Assad, has deplored the attack on a sovereign state but it made clear that its military facilities in Syria have not been affected by the air strikes. On the ground, also on Saturday, the security forces of the Syrian regime entered the town of Douma, the last fiefdom of the rebels in Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus. A week ago, the town was the target of an alleged chemical attack, which left over 40 people dead. The Syrian regime has denied any responsibility



    EC – The European Commission has never intervened in the trials unfolding in Romanian courts-says the EC President, Jean Claude Juncker. Thus, he answered the letter he received last month from the Romanian PM Viorica Dăncilă, in which she called for clarifications from the EC about a notification sent in 2012 to the then justice minister, regarding certain files. Juncker underlined the information requested six years ago was meant to help prepare the technical mission of November 2012, without Brussels requesting information related to the cases proper. He recalls that the CVM of the Romanian justice system included from the very beginning cooperation between the EC and the Bucharest authorities.



    STEEL MARKET – The ArcelorMittal has confirmed it might sell the Steelworks in Galati, south-eastern Romania. Alongside five other works in Italy, Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Luxemburg and Belgium, the steelworks in Galaţi is on a list that the group has forwarded to the EC. Until May 23, European experts will analyse whether the selling of the six steel works manages or not to redress the steel output of the ArcelorMittal group, as ArcelorMittal is interested in buying the largest steelworks in Europe, located in Ilva, Italy. The EC says that by purchasing the Italian steelworks, ArcelorMittal will hold a dominant position on the continental steel market, a situation which might be redressed only by selling other steelworks the group owns in Europe. Arcelor Mittal is a multinational company, considered to be the largest steel producer in the world, with 310,000 employees in 60 countries. Disquieted by the arrival of another investor, which might resort to restructuring, the trade unions on the Galati steelworks platform, with a total number of some 7,000 workers, have stated their intention to discuss the situation with PM Viorica Dăncilă.



    MADRID – The minister for the Romanians Worldwide, Natalia Intotero, is currently on a visit to Spain, where she is having talks with representatives of the central and local authorities, of the Romanian associations and religious denominations. The number of Romanian residents in Spain exceeded one million, according to official data made public at the end of 2017 by the Spanish Permanent Immigration Observer. An increase of 2.4% was registered, as compared to 2016.



    APPOINTMENT – Israeli doctor Zvi Herman Berkowits has been appointed honorary counsellor of Romanian PM Viorica Dăncilă, according to a decision published in the Official Gazette. He will not receive money for his activity. Berkowits is Romania’s honorary consul in Israel and the personal physician of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He was born in Târgu-Lăpuş, Maramureş (north-western Romania), in 1947 and graduated from the Medical School in Cluj-Napoca, central Romania. He is a specialist paediatrician and leads his own general and paediatric medicine clinic in Jerusalem.

    SPORTS- The Romanian women’s handball team SCM Craiova
    (in the south) on Saturday qualified for the EHF Cup finals, after ending in an
    18- draw the decisive match against the Turkish team of Kastamonu, on home
    turf. The Romanians had won the first match, played away from home,
    23-22. This will be the first finals to be played in the city of
    Craiova, by the local team, during its second participation in the European
    cups. The Romanian team will meet Norway’s Vipers
    Kristiansand. On Sunday in the Champions League, the
    Romanian champion, CSM Bucureşti, plays away from home, the round match in the
    quarter-finals, with the French team of Metz.In the first round played in
    Bucharest, CSM secured a clear victory, 34-21. The Romanian handballers won the
    Champions League in2016. (Translated and updated by D. Vijeu)

  • European Commission Report on Romania

    European Commission Report on Romania

    Romania has reported limited progress in terms of implementing recommendations at economic, social and legislative level issued by the European Commission. This is the main conclusion stemming from a report made public on Wednesday. According to the document, Bucharest will have to increase its efforts to fulfill its fiscal and tax-collection obligations, so as to achieve the mid-term budget objectives for this year.



    Moreover, Romania needs to curb black market labour. Another pending recommendation is the adoption of legislation to balance the retirement age for women and men. Romania also needs to improve access to quality education, especially for children in rural areas. In the field of healthcare, Romania will have to continue to combat informal payments and favor outpatient treatment.



    The Commission also noted Romania’s limited progress in terms of adopting legislation that should ensure the functioning of a professional and independent body of public sector employees, as well as a priority classification of public investment projects. In addition, “legislative changes adopted in 2017 reversed the substantial progress made the previous year in strengthening the corporate governance of state-owned enterprises, pointing to a significant backtracking on past reforms”, the document also reads.



    Political pundits in Bucharest highlight one of the more serious points in the report, linked to the country’s justice system. “The irreversibility of the progress in the fight against corruption was recently put at risk”, the Commission warns, adding that “the ongoing reform of the justice laws risks undoing progress achieved in the last 10 years and harming judicial independence”. As a first reaction, the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest highlighted the half-full part of the report, noting that the report makes positive reference to Romania’s economic progress last year, the tendency to consolidate public investment and the improvement in terms of growth potential and labour market conditions.



    Romania was rated as a country without macroeconomic imbalances, the Foreign Ministry further notes. Over the coming period, Brussels will hold bilateral meetings with each EU member state and will issue a new set of recommendations in May.

  • The EU and the justice laws in Romania

    The EU and the justice laws in Romania

    Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday held talks in Brussels with the EU officials on the rule of law, which preoccupies both the political class and the public opinion in Romania. The independence of the judiciary is an intangible issue, the Romanian President categorically stated. Fresh from the meeting with the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, Klaus Iohannis said the issues related to the justice laws and Criminal Codes must be settled in Romania without waiting for solutions from abroad.



    Klaus Iohannis: “I am convinced that I will succeed to end these discussions in laws, which can be practically used in their best form. However, my most important objective remains the same, namely to ensure the intangibility of the independence of Romania’s judiciary, an issue I will completely dedicate to, doing all my best as a president to keep the things as they are.”



    In turn, Jean-Claude Juncker said that Romania’s legal system is functioning and it cannot be said that Bucharest is neglecting the rule of law as long as the Constitutional Court’s rulings are observed. However, as Juncker has pointed out, backsliding is unacceptable for Romania at this time. The EU official recalls that the lifting of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism(CVM) – through which Brussels is monitoring the good functioning of the country’s legal system – depends on the observance of these rules and so does the country’s Schengen accession, which Romania has been denied due to persistent corruption in its administration.



    Romanians do not deserve to be treated as second-hand Europeans, Juncker said, adding that, to him, Romania and the Romanians are at the centre of the European life. Jean-Claude Juncker also expressed his willingness to continue to make all the efforts to reach this objective. His statements come after the Bucharest Embassies of 7 EU members and the Commission itself have voiced concern about the amendments to the justice laws. These have been also vehemently contested by the right-wing opposition in the Romanian Parliament and also by hundreds of thousands of protesters who have taken to the streets of Bucharest for a year fearing that the PSD-ALDE ruling coalition is trying to subordinate the magistrates and put an end to the anti-graft fight.



    In response, representatives of the government coalition say the amendments are putting the justice laws in line with the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights where Romania has been constantly accused for the errors in its courts and the abuses in its penitentiaries as well as with previous rulings of the country’s Constitutional Court. In January though, notified by the High Court of Cassation and Justice as well as by the Liberals, in opposition, it was the constitutional judges who tried to stop the reforming zeal of the ruling coalition, as they came to the conclusion that some changes regarding judicial organization and the status of magistrates are unconstitutional.

  • January 25, 2018

    January 25, 2018

    Politics — The representatives of the governing coalition in Romania made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats are going to finalize negotiations, in Bucharest, on Thursday, for the formation of a new government so as to be able to announce the final government makeup on Friday. The structure of the government will remain unchanged, with 28 members of whom 3 deputy prime ministers, one of them without portfolio. Some of the Social Democratic ministers will carry on their terms in office during the future government. Among them Mihai Fifor at the Defense Ministry, Carmen Dan at the Interior Ministry, Olguta Vasilescu at the Labor Ministry, and Petre Daea at the Agriculture Ministry. Of the ministers from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats who will continue their activity in the new government we can mention Graţiela Gavrilescu, as deputy prime minister and environment minister, Teodor Meleşcanu as foreign minister, Toma Petcu as energy minister and Viorel Ilie as minister for the relationship with the Parliament. On Monday senators and deputies are going to give their confidence vote for the final membership of the Dăncilă cabinet and to the governing program. The Liberal opposition is holding talks with the other political parties to block the investiture of the new cabinet, the third one of the governing coalition.



    Justice laws — The speakers of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies and of the Senate, Liviu Dragnea and Călin Popescu Tăriceanu, claim, in an open letter addressed to the European Commission, that the drafting and the examination of the justice laws was made in accordance with the constitutional requirements and standards. The two officials also expressed concern with the incorrect manner in which the EC was informed in relation to the transparency of debates on the issue of the justice laws in Romania. On Wednesday, the EC conveyed a message expressing concern with the recent developments in Romania and called on the Romanian Parliament to reconsider the modifications brought to the justice laws. Brussels announced it would take a close look at the final modifications to the Romanian justice laws in order to assess their impact on the effort of guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary and of fighting corruption.



    Tennis — World no. 1 tennis player Simona Halep on Thursday qualified, for the first time, to the final of the Australian Open, the year’s First Grand Slam tournament, after defeating the German Angelique Kerber (16 WTA and former leader of the classification) 6-3, 4-6, 9-7. Simona had one of the best matches of her career, and managed to win after a dramatic match that lasted for more than 140 minutes. Main favorite in Melbourne, in the final, the Romanian player will be up against the Danish player Caroline Wozniacki, world no. 2 player. For Halep this is the third final of a Grand Slam tournament in her career, after she lost two finals in Roland Garros in 2014 and 2017. For Wozniacki this is also the third final of her career, and just like Halep, she did not win any of the previous finals.



    Statistics — The Romanian Government’s debt stood at the end of the 3rd quarter of 2017 at 35.7% of the GDP, down by 0.6% as compared to the level of 36.3% of the GDP reported in the same period of last year, show data published by the Eurostat. For the period analyzed, three EU member states reported growth of their government debt, in Latvia the debt remained at the same level, while in the rest of the member states the percentage dropped. The lowest level of the government debt, as a ratio from the GDP, was registered in Estonia, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Romania, while the highest level was reported in Greece, Italy and Portugal.



    Sofia — Sofia will be hosting, on Thursday and Friday, under the Bulgarian presidency of the EU, the informal meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council. The line ministers will tackle issues related to justice, migration, asylum and border management. Romania is represented at the meeting by the justice minister Tudorel Toader. Participating in the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting will be the Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, the Commissioner for the Security Union, Julian King, the EU counter-terrorism coordinator, Gilles de Kerchove, representatives of the European Parliament, of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, of the European External Action Service and of the Eurojust, Europol and Frontex agencies. (news translated by Lacramioara Simion)