Radio România Internațional

Tag: education trade unions

  • January 31, 2018 UPDATE

    January 31, 2018 UPDATE

    Brussels — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday held talks in Brussels with the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. In the joint press conference following their meeting, President Iohannis said that the independence of the Romanian judiciary was intangible and that he would get fully involved in this regard, within the limits of his prerogatives. He added that the justice laws and the criminal codes have major problems which should be solved in Romania. In turn, the President of the European Commission said that, if the justice laws were enforced in the form in which they were voted by Romania’s Parliament, the talks on Romania’s Schengen accession and on lifting the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification, a safeguard measure which the EU has used to monitor the developments in the Romanian justice system ever since its EU accession in 2007, would be held in different terms. Also Mr. Juncker said that the rule of law in Romania reported remarkable progress and that the EC would not accept any step back in this respect. During his visit to Brussels, the Romanian President also talked with the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, focusing on the agenda of the informal meeting of the European Council scheduled for February 23, when the European heads of state and government will debate the political priorities of the Union budget for the long term.



    EU GDP — The contributions of member states to the EU budget might increase from 1% of the GDP to 1.1%, to cover the loss of Great Britain’s contribution after Brexit. The declaration was made by European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu, in an interview to Radio Romania. Mrs. Cretu added that Romania’s access to European funds might be conditioned on the situation of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.



    Government — The new Romanian Government headed by Social Democrat Viorica Dancila on Wednesday met for its first session and corrected a controversial fiscal measure. Upon the investiture vote in Parliament, Viorica Dancila said the objective of her term in office was to bring Romania in the first half of the classification of EU economies in 2020. To this end Mrs. Dancila intends to boost investments for modernizing the infrastructure, to continue increasing the population’s incomes, to reform the administration and to cut down on red tape. The new cabinet is made up of 28 ministers, and has 4 deputy prime ministers, one more than in the previous government.



    State of the Union Address – In the State of the Union Address on Wednesday the US President Donald Trump said that the era of Americas “economic surrender” is over and the US is seeking to enter into new trade agreements with nations that commit to fair and reciprocal trade. The White House leader added that one of the pillars of reform in the field of immigration is to end the visa lottery — a program that randomly hands out green cards without any regard for skill, merit, or the safety of American people. The US President used his first State of the Union address to push for a merit – based immigration system that admits skilled people, who want to work, and who will contribute to society. Trump has called on Congress to support an investment plan of at least 15 hundred billion dollars in the US infrastructure, one of his campaign promises.



    Trade unions — The Spiru Haret education trade union federation on Wednesday picketed the headquarters of the Education Ministry in Bucharest. The action was aimed at blocking abusive merging of classes, groups and education units, at making the authorities observe the legal provisions regarding the salary rights of the teaching staff and increase the budget allocation for education. Trade unionists also announced that they had withdrawn from all social dialogue structures of the ministry and would return only when the ministry officials understand that a genuine social dialogue means transparency, communication, discussions on an equal par and partnership.



    Statistics — Last December Romania reported an unemployment rate of 4.6%, show data published on Wednesday by Eurostat. The average unemployment rate in the community states stood at 7.3%, with the highest percentages being recorded in Greece and Spain. In December the unemployment rate dropped in all the EU states, except for Finland, where this rate remained stable, Eurostat data also show. (news translated and updated by Lacramioara Simion)

  • May 25, 2016

    May 25, 2016

    On Wednesday, the last day of his visit to the United States, Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos is meeting with the US Secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz and with representatives of the American business sector. Ciolos will promote Romania’s potential for economic development and will encourage American companies to invest in this country. On Tuesday, PM Ciolos held talks at the White House with the US Vice President Joe Biden. Bucharest requested support for a multinational brigade on Romanian territory, under NATO umbrella, to strengthen the defence system on the Alliance’s south-east European border. Vice President Biden reiterated his country’s commitment to strengthening security and defence in the Euro-Atlantic area. Also on Tuesday, Dacian Ciolos met with representatives of the Romanian community in Washington DC.




    Romanian Senate Speaker, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, has denied, in a public letter, the accusations levelled at him by anti-corruption prosecutors, saying he is their victim. On Tuesday, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate has announced that Tariceanu is prosecuted for false testimony and encouraging the offender. Tariceanu is the second most important official in the state, given the position he is currently holding, that of Senate Speaker. He is also co-president of the recently set up centre-rightist Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, (ALDE). Between 2004 and 2008, when he was the leader of the National Liberal Party, he held the position of prime minister.




    Negotiations between trade unions in education and Government representatives will continue, after Tuesday’s talks ended without an agreement. Unionists are pushing for salary increase and are unhappy with the amounts earmarked for education. The president of the Federation of Trade Unions in Education, Marius Nistor, has said that unless a solution is reached in the next round of negotiations, on June 1 trade unions will stage a rally in Bucharest. Also on Wednesday, defense industry and environment workers have protested in Bucharest, asking for bigger salaries.




    Romania’s state budget in the first quarter of this year has an additional amount of three billion lei, that is 665 million euros, while the level of taxes and duties collected by the National Agency for Fiscal Administration in the first four months of 2016 is by 3% bigger than initially estimated, Finance Minister Anca Dragu told Radio Romania News. Minister Dragu has warned, however, over the fact that the recent VAT cuts triggered negative inflation. According to a report by the National Bank of Romania, the VAT tax has impacted around 70% of the prices and an improvement of the inflation rate will only be seen at the beginning of next year.




    Eurozone finance ministers have reached a deal with Greece, after marathon talks in Brussels, to unlock 10.3 billion euros in vital bailout cash. The IMF, one of Greece’s main lenders, have insisted to phase in the debt. The disbursement was conditional on Greece delivering on reform promises.




    Romania’s national football team meets Congo today in a friendly match in Como, Italy. The match, just like that against Ukraine, scheduled for Sunday in Turin, is part of a campaign held in preparation for the European Championship due in France, this summer. Romania and the host country will play the opening match, in Paris, on June 10. Also playing in Group A are Switzerland and Albania.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)