European elections. Political
parties and alliances and independent candidates in Romania have until today to
submit their candidacies for the European Parliament elections on the 26th
of May. The candidate lists are submitted to the Central Election Bureau,
accompanied by 200,000 support signatures in the case of political parties and
100,000 signatures for independent candidates. The Central Election Bureau is
to decide by the 6th of April whether to accept or reject the
candidacies, decisions that can be appealed until the 12th of April.
The order of the candidates on the ballot will then be established based on a
drawing of lots. The election campaign begins on the 27th of April
and ends on the morning of the 25th of May.
Danube river. The Romanian transport
minister Razvan Cuc and the European commissioner for transport Violeta Bulc
have had talks in Bucharest about ways to turn the Danube river into a more
attractive European corridor. Razvan Cuc has said his ministry will launch a
tender to purchase a modern system to allow own dredging works, not just by
third companies, and that increasing the river depth would lead to an increase
in the shipment of goods via the river. The European commissioner for transport
Violeta Bulc has said the Danube has great potential
for the transport of goods and has underlined that in some EU member states inland
waterways are used extensively. She also emphasised that in the absence of
efficient roads and railways, Romania should further develop its Black Sea port
of Constanta, in the south-east.
EU prosecutor.
The second round of negotiations between the representatives of the Council of
the European Union and of the European Parliament to appoint a chief European
prosecutor ended without a breakthrough, Radio Romania’s correspondent in
Brussels quotes European sources as saying. There are two candidates for this
position: the former head of Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate
Laura Codruta Kovesi, who has the backing of the European Parliament, and the
French candidate Jean-François Bohnert, who is supported by the Council.
Further talks will be held on the 4th or 10th of April.
The appointment of the future European chief prosecutor must earn the approval
of both the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, for a single
7-year term. The European Prosecutor’s Office is envisaged to take up its
functions at the end of 2020. This will be an independent office responsible
for the investigation, prosecution and indictment of fraud against the EU
budget.
Employment. The unemployment rate
went up to 4.1% in the last quarter of 2018, up by 0.2% compared with the
previous quarter. According to the National Institute of Statistics, the
highest unemployment level, of more than 16%, was reported among young people
aged between 15 and 24. The occupancy rate among the 15-64 age bracket stood at
64.5% in the period looked at, lower compared with the previous quarter. The
employment rate was higher among men and the urban population. According to the
National Institute of Statistics, Romania’s active population stood at almost 9
million people, of whom 8.5 million were in employment and 368,000 out of work.
Arts and culture. The
Romania-France Season, which opens on the 18th of April with
Spotlight, an international festival of lights, will feature exhibitions,
theatre and film festivals and concerts held in more than 30 towns and cities
across Romania. The French ambassador to Bucharest Michèle Ramis says the event, which has
been held in more than 100 towns and cities in France, has enjoyed immense
success, with the French public rediscovering Romania and its artists. The
Season ends on the 16th of April in Paris and moves to Romania on
the 18th of April where it will last until the 14th of
July.
Tennis. The Romanian tennis player
Simona Halep, world no. 3, will face the Czech player Karolina
Pliskova, world no. 7, in the semifinals of the WTA tournament in Miami, the
US, worth over 9 million dollars in prize money. On Wednesday, Halep defeated China’s
Qiang Wang, world no. 18, in straight sets. She will resume her world no. 1
spot if she reaches the final. In the doubles, the Romanian-American pair Monica
Niculescu and Abigail Spears were defeated in the quarterfinals by the
Australian-Chinese pair Samantha Stosur and Shuai Zhang, seeded sixth in Miami
and winners of the Australian Open this year.
