Radio România Internațional

Tag: education laws

July 4, 2023

EDUCATION – Romania’s
president Klaus Iohannis is today expected to ratify the education laws. A
former high school teacher, Klaus Iohannis spearheaded the Educated Romania
project in 2016, launched in the wake of a series of public consultations. Its
objectives include increasing funds for education, reducing school dropout and
functional illiteracy. The education laws were adopted by the Senate on May 22.
The opposition parties USR and the Right Force appealed the laws at the
Constitutional Court, without success. The opposition claims the laws infringe
on access to education and on the principle of equality of rights. The
education laws were also criticized by the National Pupils Council and
students’ organizations, which condemned various provisions they deemed to be
discriminatory.

VISIT -
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu is as of today paying a two-day visit to
Germany, where he will meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the
vice-president of the German Parliament, Katrin Gorind-Eckardt. Prime Minister
Ciolacu will also attend meetings with representatives of the business and
defense industry sectors. Marcel Ciolacu will also meet members of the Romanian
community in Germany and pay floral tributes to the Holocaust Memorial in
Berlin. Germany is Romania’s number one trade partner, which provides a robust
basis for boosting bilateral ties, offering genuine development perspectives
that we want to carry through as soon as possible, the Romanian official said.

DACIA – Dacia
has announced it will take part in the 2025 edition of the Dakar Rally as one
of the official manufacturers. Dacia representatives announced its prototype
race car will use a synthetic fuel supplied by Aramco. Piloting one of Dacia’s
cars into the series will be several-time Dakar champion Sébastien Loeb of
France.

MEDICAL LEAVE – The Government will
launch an official inquiry into medical leaves. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu
has called on the National Health Insurance Authority to submit an updated
report, after last year over 8 million requests for medical leave were
submitted, considering Romania’s active population totals some 6 million
people. Total medical leave costs stood at some 1.2 bln EUR. Parliament has
previously voted out an initiative designed to empower the Health Insurance
Authority to verify people on medical leave without violating their privacy.

WAR IN UKRAINE – The battles
against the Russian invasion army are ‘difficult’, Ukraine’s president
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, hailing however what he has termed ‘progress’
reported as part of the June counteroffensive campaign. Last week was
difficult, but we are making headway. We’re taking it one step at a time,
Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. Previously, deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar
said that Ukraine has liberated 28.4 square kilometers in the south and 9
square kilometers in the east over the past week, taking the total area
liberated by the Ukrainian army since the launch of the counteroffensive to 158
square kilometers. The enemy is fighting back, the current battle is very
though, deputy minister Mailar went on to say.

TENNIS – Three Romanian
tennis players are today competing in the women’s singles at Wimbledon. 29th-seed
Irina Begu (29 WTA) will take on Rebecca Marino of Canada (83 WTA). Sorana Cîrstea
(36 WTA) will go up against Tatjana Maria of Germany (58 WTA), last year’s
semi-finalist. Another player on the main draw, Jaqueline Cristian (133 WTA),
will take on Lucia Bronzetti of Italy (65 WTA). The Romanian-born Canadian
player Bianca Andreescu will play Anna Bondar of Hungary. On Monday, Ana Bogdan
(61 WTA) ousted Liudmila Samsonova of Russia (15 WTA), 7-6, 7-6. (VP)

4 July 2023
May 19, 2023 UPDATE

GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE – The structure of
the new government could be decided next week, Interior Minister Lucian Bode
says. For the time being, UDMR, a junior coalition partner, has not commented
on the proposed changes. According to the protocol signed by PSD, PNL and UDMR,
Social-Democrat Marcel Ciolacu is set to replace Liberal Nicolae Ciucă as the country’s
new Prime Minister. This is the first Prime Minister swap in the history of the
Romanian politics since 1989.

EDUCATION -The Senate’s committee on education must
submit its final conclusions regarding the undergraduate education bill on
Monday, the Senate leadership announced on Friday. On Friday, debates continued
over the education bill, the committee also passing a number of amendments
regulating access to education for children with special learning needs.
Schools will also need to ensure behavioral analysts and social workers to help
such pupils. No modifications were brought to the provisions on pupil transport
and the reduction of school dropout. Members of the education committees will
also vote on amendments concerning pupil evaluation. A final vote is scheduled
for next week in the Senate.

STRIKE – Chamber of
Deputies Speaker Marcel Ciolacu said strike actions in the education system
should be avoided, expressing willingness to discuss with education trade union
leaders over the weekend in order to avoid Monday’s planned strike. In a
Facebook post, Ciolacu said he discussed with Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă, who
is also open to dialogue. Politicians and unionists must show responsibility
and lucidity and focus on solutions to keep children in schools, Marcel Ciolacu
also argued. The Romanian official said the strike will produce chaos,
disrupting not just school activity, but also the lives of millions of
families. We recall education trade unions have called an all-out strike on May
22, protesting work conditions and salaries.

OPERATION – Romanian navy
military serving on the Kind Ferdinand frigate have carried out complex
actions in the Mediterranean jointly with other EU naval groups under the aegis
of the EUNAVFOR MED IRINI Operation, held over May 13-19. Training drills in
all areas of activity were also carried out on board, from vital standard actions
and communication exercises, to enemy attack response drills and live ammo
target practice. Daytime and nighttime surveillance flights were also carried
out to monitor maritime traffic and training drills using the Puma Naval
helicopter on board. The King Ferdinand frigate docked in the port of
Catania, Italy on Friday for refitting ahead of the upcoming missions in the
EUNAVFOR MED IRINI Operation.

RALLY IN MOLDOVA – European
Parliament president Roberta Metsola will attend Sunday’s European Moldova
rally in Chișinău, held in support of the European integration of the Republic
of Moldova. Attending the rally in the Great National Assembly Square in
Chișinău will be Moldovans from both at home and abroad. The rally will
occasion the adoption of a resolution confirming citizens’ support for
Moldova’s European track. The event is held ahead of the European Political
Community Summit to be held in Chișinău on June 1.

RADIATION – The latest
explosions in Ukraine have not produced an increase in radiation levels across
Romania, the National Environment Protection Agency has announced. In an online
post, Agency representatives said Romanians have no reason to worry in this
respect, as the latest measurements fall within normal values. The announcement
follows a piece of information launched by Russian Security Council Secretary
Nikolay Patrushev, who argued that the destruction of depleted uranium
munitions supplied by the West to Ukraine has caused a radioactive cloud that
is drifting towards Europe.

SANCTIONS – The US and their G7 allies Friday
announced new sanctions to reduce Russia’s ability to carry on its war in
Ukraine. The sanctions, which target Russia’s highly profitable diamond
exports, were decided right ahead of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan. Diamond
exports, mainly to the UAE, India and EU member state Belgium, earn Moscow
several billion US dollars a year. An EU official said India’s joining the new
set of sanctions would be crucial. Invited to attend the summit in Hiroshima is
also the Indian PM Narendra Modi, whose country has strong ties with Moscow and
has been reluctant so far to condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (AMP
& VP)

19 May 2023
May 15, 2023

SUMMIT – The president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, will be
attending the 4th Summit of the Council of Europe, held on Tuesday
and Wednesday in Reykjavik and organized under the aegis of the Icelandic
presidency of the Council of Europe. According to the Romanian Presidency, the
summit will highlight the role the Council of Europe plays in the current
geopolitical context marked by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The
Council of Europe promotes and monitors the observance of democratic standards,
human rights and the rule of law. It was one of the first international
organizations that responded to the war in Ukraine by excluding the Russian
Federation.

EDUCATION LAWS
– The draft education laws have today been submitted to the Senate’s special
committees, which are expected to issue an opinion. Tomorrow the laws will be
debated in the Education Committee. A final vote on the education laws is
scheduled for May 22 in the Senate, the decision-making body in this case.
According to Education Minister Ligia Deca, the laws seek to prevent and combat
school dropout and functional illiteracy, to implement a pupil-oriented
education, to ensure safety in schooling units and provide teachers with better
training and support opportunities and observe professional ethics standards.
Ruling coalition parties say the laws will reform the education system, but the
opposition has voiced criticism, arguing the laws fail to provide solutions to
the problems of the education system and represent a failure of the Educated
Romania project endorsed by the presidency.

WAR IN UKRAINE
– France will train and equip a number of Ukrainian regiments with dozens of
armored vehicles and light tanks, the presidents of France and Ukraine,
Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Sunday in Paris. France
will also channel its efforts to bolster Ukraine’s anti-air defenses, the joint
statement also reads. In diplomatic terms, the two presidents have argued in
favor of introducing new sanctions against Russia and of continuing to
strengthen ties between Ukraine, NATO and the EU. Ukraine has a right to make
its own security choices and France supports this country’s bid to join the
Euro-Atlantic Community, the French president pointed out. Volodymyr Zelenskyy
visited Paris on Sunday evening as part of a mini tour of Europe which also
included stopovers in Italy and Germany.

AIRCRAFT -
The MiG-21 LanceR aircraft of the Romanian Air Forces carried out their last
flights on Monday in a ceremony held in several airbases across Romania. The 85
Air Base in Bacău (east) is also now open to visitation. The withdrawal of
MiG-21 LanceR jets was voted by the country’s Supreme Defense Council last year
with a view to speeding up the purchase of F-16 jets.

ELECTION IN TURKEY – The president of Turkey’s Electoral Council said that Conservative
president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has won over 49% of Sunday’s presidential vote
with the majority of the ballot boxes counted. His opposition rival,
Social-Democrat Kemal Kilicdaroglu,
grabbed some 44% of the vote. Erdoğan said he is clearly leading in the
elections, but remained open to the possibility of a runoff vote in case it is
necessary, AFP reports. The opposition candidate, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, promised
to win the second round of elections scheduled for May 28. For the first time
in his 20-year mandate, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will have to rely on the
presidential run-off to secure a new term in office.

FESTIVAL -
The European Film Festival starts today in Bucharest after the editions
previously held in Timișoara and Oravița (west). Sophie Barthes’s The Pod
Generation will open the festival, a winner at the Sundance Film festival this
year. Running until May 23, the European Film Festival will include films
premiered in Berlin, Venice, at Sundance or Locarno, many of which were
released this year. (VP)

15 May 2023
May 14, 2023

Commemoration — The wounds caused by communism will never be fully healed, and our duty is to cultivate, every day, the respect for democratic values, as well as for the historical truth, and to educate the younger generations in this sense. This message was conveyed on Sunday by the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă on the occasion of the National Remembrance Day of Martyrs of Communist Prisons. “75 years ago, on the night of May 14/15, 1948, the communist authorities launched a vast repressive operation, marking the beginning of a long series of horrors. For almost half a century, Romania was in the darkness of totalitarianism, all the strongholds of democracy being destroyed, one by one” the prime minister said in his message. According to him, all this ordeal ended in December 1989, through blood sacrifice, when Romanians won the fight for freedom and democracy.

Education – The draft laws of Education, of higher and pre-university education, will enter, as of Monday, the debate of the Senate in Bucharest, which is the decision-making body in this case. The changes brought in the Chamber of Deputies are supported by the parties in the governing coalition, which state that the new measures will reform the educational system. On the other hand, the opposition representatives believe that the problems in education will not be solved with the adoption of these laws. According to the calendar established by the leadership of the Senate, the specialized committee must give a report by May 19. Save Romania Union – USR requested an extension of the calendar, given that, they claim, a hasty adoption of documents of such complexity would harm education. The deputies substantially modified the two bills compared to the form adopted by the Government, hundreds of amendments being accepted. The laws might equally undergo changes in the Senate as well.

Museums — More than 300 cultural events took place as part of the European Night of the Museums 2023, which took place on Saturday in a joint edition between Romania and the Republic of Moldova (an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population). Of these, about 60 events took place in Bucharest in museums, art galleries, cultural and exhibition centers. The special guest of the Night of Museums 2023 was the world-wide phenomenon museum – War Childhood Museum, for the first time in Romania. The Romanian Athenaeum, the Football Museum and the Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry participated in this initiative for the first time this year. The National Art Museum of Romania turned on its lights on Saturday, thus joining museums from dozens of European countries that opened their doors on the same night.

Forum — The Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, represented Romania, on Saturday, in the EU Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, organized in Stockholm by the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The forum included a series of simultaneous debates organized in the form of round tables dedicated to connectivity, energy and security. Bogdan Aurescu co-moderated the round table on security issues, entitled Joint management of security challenges in the Indo-Pacific. In his speech, the Romanian FM highlighted the interdependence relationship between the EU and the Indo-Pacific in terms of consolidating the prosperity of the two regions, the prospects for intensifying cooperation between the EU and the region, as well as the ways of jointly defining and combating security threats. According to the Romanian official, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has a major impact on global stability and prosperity, being not just a regional conflict, as it has effects at the world level. In this context, Bogdan Aurescu presented Romanias consistent and multidimensional efforts in support of Ukraine, as well as in support of the Ukrainian citizens affected by the war.

Elections – The first round of the presidential election is taking place in Turkey on Sunday. In power for over two decades, the current head of state, the Islamic-conservative Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is facing what the press calls “the toughest challenge of his career”. His secular opponent, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, is leading in opinion polls. He promised to restore democracy and improve Turkeys relations with the West. If none of the candidates gets more than 50% of the votes, a second round of voting will take place in two weeks’ time. (LS)

14 May 2023
Deputies endorse the education laws

The Romanian Chamber of Deputies endorsed the package of laws that the initiator, the Ministry of Education, says will fundamentally reform the education system. The laws will now be debated by the Senate, which is the decision-making body in this matter. The two bills come with significant changes in pre-university and academic education. These changes are important, because they target the chronic problems of the system, listed by the Minister of Education, Ligia Deca:

Preventing and combating school dropout, combating functional illiteracy, implementing an education centered on the child, the student, the young person, ensuring safety in educational institutions, better training of teaching staff and their support and compliance with deontological ethics and professional code of conduct.

According to the minister, investments, prioritizing the disadvantaged areas with regard to budget allocations and the measures targeting success along the entire educational path are the pillars of this legislative package. The representatives of the parties that make up the governing coalition PSD – PNL – UDMR have stated that they voted for a stable legislative framework in the field of education, anticipating that the results of the new measures will be seen in the years to come. The opposition does not agree, considering that the laws do not address the real issues facing the education system and are a failure of the presidential project Educated Romania.

The law that will govern pre-university education comes with a number of firsts: high schools can opt to organize an additional exam, besides the national evaluation, in order to fill half of the seats, religion becomes an optional subject at the baccalaureate, and the supplies program for students from disadvantaged backgrounds is extended.

Also, the law proposes a national plan to combat violence in schools, which includes video monitoring of classrooms, with the consent of parents, and gradual sanctions for teachers and students who commit disciplinary violations.

There are also changes regarding university education. Thus, the rectors in office will be able to remain in office for another 10 years. At the same time, big fines are provided for people who buy or sell scientific papers, reports, papers for evaluation exams, as well as for the completion of bachelor’s, master’s and PhD studies.

The law also says that the person elected to hold a public office can benefit from a reduction of their didactic workload, but by no more than 50%. The teaching profession must be respected, and the work of teachers appreciated, stressed Minister Ligia Deca. This is what the teachers who marched between the Government and Parliament buildings, on the very day of the adoption of the Education laws, felt entitled to demand, along with a fair and decent salary. (MI)

11 May 2023
May 11, 2023

EDUCATION LAWS – The laws reforming the
education system have been submitted to the Senate, the decision-making body in
this matter. On Wednesday, the Chamber of Deputies adopted the law package. The
two bills making key modifications to the pre-university and academic systems
are meant to help graduates attain international standards of excellence,
Education Minister Ligia Deca said in her address to Parliament. Representatives
of ruling coalition parties say the effects of the new laws will become
transparent in upcoming years. From the opposition, USR voted against the law
package, arguing it does not respond to the actual problems facing the
education system.

GRANTS – European Transport
Commissioner Adina Vălean on Wednesday distributed two grants worth €60 mln to
Romanian beneficiaries for the construction of the rail bridge in Ungheni on
the Romanian border with the Republic of Moldova and for the modernization of
the Port of Constanța (southeast). The funds are earmarked under the Connecting
Europe Facility. Regarding the bridge in Ungheni, Commissioner Vălean said the
project will be an extension of the A8 motorway to the Republic of Moldova,
adding that Romania has applied for and secured funding for six bridges.

PNRR – Romania has exceeded the
deadline whereby it could still operate changes to the National Recovery and Resilience
Plan (PNRR) and is now negotiating with European Commission representatives
based on the already agreed measures, Romanian Social-Democrat MEP Victor
Negrescu said in Strasbourg. Due to changing economic indicators, Bucharest
wants to introduce new elements in PNRR such as reforming the pension law,
modifying the law salary law and building the subway line to the Otopeni
Airport. Romania benefits from total funding worth €29 bln. The Commission
disburses the funds in installments until August 2026, depending on each
country fulfilling certain objectives.

FESTIVAL – The Cinefemina Film Festival
has kicked off in Bucharest. The festival promotes and supports women working
in the European film industry by screening features and short films directed by
talented women filmmakers and producers. Running until May 14, the festival
will bring to cinema halls 12 European features and 5 short films. Produced by
film studios from Italy, France, Greece, Romania, Austria, the Netherlands,
Portugal, Poland, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Hungary, the productions tackle a
variety of genres, from comedy, drama to romance. This year, apart from film
screenings, organizers have also prepared meetings with filmmakers as well as
experts in a number of related fields, representatives of NGOs and journalists.
These debates are aimed at promoting women in industries traditionally
dominated by men.

GAUDEAMUS – The Radio Romania Gaudeamus
Book Fair continues today in Oradea (northwest). Running until May 14, the fair
will offer book launches, prize-winning contests and workshops for children.
This year’s edition is attended by 50 brands, including prestigious publishing
houses and book distribution networks. Guests will also get to indulge in educational
games and quality music, and visit a new section called Bookoteca, offering second-hand books.

EUROVISION – Romania’s representative, Theodor Andrei, is tonight
performing in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest. On Tuesday,
10 countries secured qualification to the big final: Croatia, the Republic of
Moldova, Switzerland, Finland, the Czech Republic, Israel, Portugal, Sweden,
Serbia and Norway. Representing Moldova was Pasha Parfeni with the
Romanian-language song The Sun and Moon. The 2023 edition is hosted by the
United Kingdom on behalf of last year’s winner, Ukraine. Romania’s
best-rankings in the Eurovision Song Contest include third place in 2005 and
2010 (Luminița Anghel & Sistem / Paula Seling & Ovi) and fourth place
in 2006 (Mihai Trăistariu). (VP)

11 May 2023
The Education Laws in the focus of the deputies

The reform of the education system has been discussed, in an applied or propagandistic manner, for over three decades. Several changes have been made indeed, but most of the projects started were short-lived, due to repeated changes at the top of the education ministry. The reform lacked a unitary vision, to be accepted by the main political forces. Now there is a chance that, a large coalition, such as the one in power, which includes the main leftwing and rightwing forces, the Social Democratic Party – PSD and the National Liberal Party – PNL, may agree on a long-term, valid reform program. Recently approved by the government, the new draft education laws reached the Chamber of Deputies. They are based on the “Educated Romania” project, initiated by President Klaus Iohannis, and for the implementation of the reforms included in these laws, more than 3 billion Euros will be allocated from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The coordinator of the presidential project, Ligia Deca, is the current education minister and she claims that the education system will be centered on the students and on stimulating their potential. The higher education law is meant to combat university education dropout and to support European cooperation of universities in Romania.

The pre-university education law mainly aims to reduce school dropout and functional illiteracy, which are chronic problems of the Romanian education system. The bill regarding pre-university education proposes the introduction of new mandatory assessments at the end of the 2nd, 4th and 6th grades in such subjects as Language and Communication and Mathematics and Sciences. High schools will be able to organize their own admission contest, with specific tests, for 60% of the places, besides the National Assessment, and the baccalaureate exam will have more tests. The higher education bill also provides for increasing the length of university doctoral studies to 4 years, as compared to 3 years at present. The coalition leaders promise to adopt the new laws by the end of the current parliamentary session.

On the other hand, Romanian schools are facing a serious problem: a rising number of incidents. That is why the education ministry has announced that it has started consultations to find the best solutions to counter violence of any nature in schools. Minister Deca emphasized that the safety of every person in the education units is a priority for the education ministry. Her reaction came after two events that horrified the public opinion: a few days ago, a student from a college in Bucharest injured a teacher with a knife during class, and at a school in Prahova county (south), 13 year old students sexually harassed a teacher, also during class, and filmed the incident. In the first case, the aggressor student was arrested, on the grounds that he represented a public danger, and was placed in a special center for minors. In the second case, the Prahova School Inspectorate took disciplinary measures, and the police opened an investigation. (LS)

10 April 2023
February 2, 2023

VISIT – Romania’s
president, Klaus Iohannis, is today starting his two-day visit to Baku,
Azerbaijan, responding to an invitation extended by his Azeri counterpart,
Ilham Aliyev. The two presidents will open the ministerial meeting of the
Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council. On this occasion, president Iohannis
will speak about Romania’s contribution to ensuring European energy security,
by expanding cooperation with regional partners and diversifying sources and
transport routes for energy resources. Moreover, Bucharest wants to import gas
at favorable prices from the Caucasus to replace its Russian gas imports. At
the same time, the Romanian president will discuss with president Ilham Aliyev
about extending bilateral cooperation in the fields of transport, trade,
agriculture, education and culture. The two officials will also review the
status of regional interconnection projects, such as the underwater electricity
cable, and will tackle the organization of similar projects in the digital
field as well.

DEFENSE – Romania remains
firmly committed to efforts at maintaining a climate of safety and stability in
the Western Balkans, Romania’s Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr, said Wednesday
on the sidelines of his visit to the Camp Butmir military base in Bosnia
Herzegovina. Accompanied by the Chief of General Staff, General Daniel
Petrescu, Minister Tîlvăr met with Romanian servicemen taking part in the EUFOR
ALTHEA operation, with the EU commander of this mission, Major-General Helmut
Habermayer (Austria), and the head of the NATO Sarajevo command, General Pamela
McGaha (USA). We are very proud of the exemplary conduct of Romanian
servicemen in accomplishing their assigned duties, Angel Tîlvăr said. The EUFOR
ALTHEA operation was launched in December 2004. Starting 2012, the mission has
been focusing on training and consolidating the military capabilities of Bosnia
Herzegovina. 1,100 military from 21 states are taking part in the operation. A
Romanian officer is expected to assume command as EUFOR Chief of Staff.

EDUCATION – State Secretary
with the Education Ministry, Social-Democrat Florin Lixandru, announced his
attributions and prerogatives have been revoked under orders from the Liberal
Education Minister, Ligia Deca. Secretary Lixandru claims this is the result of
a political row, after PSD criticized some of the provisions in laws regulating
high-school admission and the Baccalaureate exam. The education laws are on the
agenda of Parliament’s current legislative session.

PROTESTS – Approximately 1,000 employees in the
education sector protested low salaries yesterday in Bucharest. Union
representatives say non-teaching staff are the only category of public sector
employees whose base salary was not increased in line with the provisions of
the framework law for 2022. Trade unions have called on the Government to pass
a draft law allowing non-teaching staff to receive their due salary rights, as
well as bonuses for special work conditions to all employees in the education
sector. The Sanitas Trade Federation also announced it would stage protest
actions starting February 6 until their demands are met. Among other things,
the Federation calls for increasing the salaries of all Healthcare and Social
Welfare employees by at least 15% in line with inflation.

ICR – The Romanian
cultural institute (ICR) will earmark some €200 thousand this year to
translations of Romanian literary works abroad via two separate funding
programmes, addressing publishers outside Romania. The measure seeks to
facilitate access to Romanian culture by supporting translations of Romanian
authors and publications devoted to Romanian culture and civilization. For the
first time, applications can also be submitted online, via email, by March 8,
when they will be examined by a commission of independent experts. (VP)

2 February 2023
August 26, 2022 UPDATE

LAWS – Draft
laws on the reform of Romania’s education system could be submitted to the
government in early September, Education Minister Sorin Cîmpeanu has announced. The minister says that upon public debates over
the documents, almost 15 hundred amendments are to be assessed by experts with
the ministry. We recall that representatives of the teaching staff, students,
parents and society have called for the extension of the period of debates, but
the ministry turned down the proposal.

ORDINANCE -The
government in Bucharest has endorsed an emergency ordinance providing for a 30
Euros pay rise for state employees starting August 1st, Labor
Minister Marius Budăi has announced, adding that the raise is only one fourth
of the level stipulated in Law 153 for the year 2022 and it accounts for 2
billion lei of the state budget. According to Budăi, almost one million out of
the 1.2 million state employees will benefit from the new ordinance. The
medical personnel and several other categories had already benefitted from the aforementioned
pay rise.

TRADE – Romania’s exports of drinks have increased by 52 % in
the first five months of 2022 up to 108 million Euros, the National Institute
for Statistics has announced. Between January and May this year Romania’s
imports of beverages grew by 45% up to 251 million Euros, which resulted in a
trade deficit of 143 million Euros. According to Bucharest media, the most
sought-after drink is the Romanian version of the French cognac. The demand for
this product has significantly increased on markets in Europe, the USA and
Japan.

PURCHASE – The Mintia thermoelectric power plant, part of the
Hunedoara Energy Complex, was bought by Mass Global Energy Rom, part of Mass
Group Holding, a company from the Middle East dealing in the fields of energy,
steel and cement works for a 91-million-EUR fee. This is one of the largest transactions
in the Romanian energy sector and, also the biggest insolvent company sold in
recent years in Romania. Mass Global Energy Rom was the only participant in
Friday’s tender.

FOOTBALL – Romania’s football champions CFR Cluj qualified to the
groups of Europa Conference League after a 1-0 home win on Thursday against
Slovenian side NK Maribor in the play-offs. The first game in Slovenia ended in
a goaless draw. FCSB, runner up in the Romanian championship, have also
qualified after a 3-1 away win against their Norwegian opponents Viking.
Another Romanian side Universitatea Craiova was eliminated in the play-offs by
the Israeli side Hapoel Beer-Sheva during the penalty shootout. Following
Friday’s draw, FCSB will play in a group alongside West Ham United (England),
Anderlecht Brussels (Belgium) and Silkeborg (Denmark). CFR was drawn in a group
alongside Slavia Prague (the Czech Republic), Sivasspor (Turkey) and Ballkani
(Kosovo).

TENNIS -Romanian
tennis player Simona Halep will be up against an opponent from the qualifying
round at the US Open, the year’s last Grand Slam tournament. Halep last year
made it to the round of 16 of the aforementioned competition, her best
performance being in 2015, when she played in the semifinals. Another tennis
player from Romania, Irina Begu, will be up against Elise Mertens of Belgium
who has so far won all head-to-head matches. Sorana Cîrstea, also from Romania, will be up
against Laura Siegemund of Germany while Gabriela Ruse will be playing Daria
Saville of Australia. Another Romanian player Jaqueline Cristian will be up
against Anett Kontaveit of Estonia. (DB & VP)

26 August 2022
July 15, 2022

GOVERNMENT – The Government today adopted
new amendments to the Fiscal Code. Following a series of talks with social
partners, employers, trade unions and representatives of local officials, the
Ministry of Finance has operated a number of changes to the Fiscal Code. The
Ministry accepted the employers’ proposal that hospitality companies may opt
between paying regular taxes or the tax on profits starting January 1, 2023.
Another modification is linked to lowering taxes on betting revenues and the
elaboration of a separate bill on amending the legislation regarding the
organization and monetization of games of chance. In the case of property
taxes, the new bill stipulates that the tax is calculated based on older
records kept by local authorities whenever notary grids provide for values that
are lower compared to those used so far.

COVID – Over 4,100 new cases of
COVID-19 and 3 related deaths were reported within the space of 24 hours,
health authorities announced on Friday. Most new cases are reported in
Bucharest and Ilfov County. Some 1,700 people are treated for COVID in
hospitals across the country, 101 of whom in intensive care. Since the start of
the pandemic, over 65 thousand people have died to the virus in Romania.

LAWS – Two new bills on secondary and
higher education have been submitted for public debate in Romania. Education
Minister Sorin Cîmpeanu says the modifications are designed to radically reform
the system and that they are the results of the project Educated Romania
launched by president Klaus Iohannis. Over 10,000 education experts have
contributed to the elaboration of this project.

VISIT – Germany’s Foreign Minister,
Annalena Baerbock on Friday said that the Republic of Moldova ‘is not alone’,
announcing an additional financial assistance package worth 77 million EUR for
this country. Minister Baerbock is paying a state visit to Romania, attending the
second ministerial conference of the Moldova Support Platform in Bucharest,
alongside her Romanian counterpart, Bogdan Aurescu, and France’s Secretary of
State for Development, La Francophonie and International Partnerships,
Chrysoula Zacharopoulou. In turn, Minister Aurescu underscored the importance
of providing Moldova with direct grants, saying that every day the war
generates shockwaves beyond the borders of Ukraine. In turn, Moldova’s
president, Maia Sandu, pointed out in her address on the sidelines of the
conference that it is important to know that we’re not alone, that we can rely
on you. Moldova is a small country, and the scale of the current developments exceeds
its capacity to cope with the situation. Also today, Minister Annalena Baerbock will pay a visit to the city of
Constanța (southeast), where she will meet local officials and
representatives of German businesses to discuss the Ukrainian grain exports.

BLUE AIR – The National Consumer
Protection Authority (ANPC) has handed a 2-million-EUR fine to the Romanian
low-cost flight operator Blue Air, which cancelled over 11 thousand flights
over April 30, 2021 – April 30, 2022, also forcing the company to return the
money to its clients within ten days for every flight cancelled. During this
period, Blue Air received payments worth 13.4 million EUR from clients from 20
EU Member States. ANPC has recommended consumers to be extremely vigilant and
avoid purchasing tickets from airlines that cancelled a large number of flights
in the past and that failed to observe passenger rights. On the other hand,
ANPC has issued warnings to other airline companies that cancelled flights or
reported delays during the aforementioned period, with no regard whatsoever to
passenger rights. This is the biggest fine ever awarded to an economic
operator, ANPC officials say.

WAR IN UKRAINE – A national day of
mourning is today observed in Vinnytsia, Western Ukraine, after a Russian
missile attack killed at least 23 people on Thursday. Over 100 people were
wounded and dozens are missing. Two missiles launched from a submarine in the
Black Sea hit buildings in central Vinnytsia, the blast damaging scores of
nearby buildings. The UN Secretary General, Antoniu Guterres, and the EU High
Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, have expressed their shock
with Russia’s latest aggression. The attack was carried out just ahead of a new
conference of the International Criminal Court designed to investigate Russia’s
war crimes in Ukraine. The city of Mykolaiv in the south was also hit by
missiles. Several buildings were shelled, including two schools and a hotel.
Hostilities continue in the northeast as well. In the Kharkiv Oblast, Ukrainian
forces are facing attacks from multiple directions, but have so far been
successful in preventing the Russians from advancing. In Donbas too, attacks
have been reported in the towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, where Russian
forces are hitting rail infrastructure to cut off weapon supplies. (VP)

15 July 2022