Radio România Internațional

Tag: funds

December 26, 2024

Christmas – For New Rite Orthodox Christians, Greek Catholics and Catholics all over the world, including Romania, which has a majority Orthodox population, December 26 is the second day of Christmas, the celebration of the Nativity, one of the biggest in Christianity. On December 26, the Orthodox Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, one of the oldest feasts in honor of the Virgin Mary. The holiday was established 1,500 years ago. Christmas is a celebration of generosity and compassion, of the revival of hope for a better future, President Klaus Iohannis wrote on a social network. Christmas is a celebration of joy, and true faith is the one that works through love, says the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Daniel. At the Vatican, Pope Francis made a new call for peace in Ukraine and in the Middle East. Old Rite Orthodox believers, who form the majority in Russia, Ukraine, Serbia and Georgia, celebrate Christmas on January 7.

Government – One of the priorities of the new Romanian government is to draft next year’s budget, which seems to be, at the same time, the main difficulty it will face in the assumed effort to reduce expenses. The draft budget is based on a new emergency ordinance regarding fiscal-budgetary measures, which is to be approved in the following days. In includes a large part of the unpopular measures that the government must implement in order to reduce the deficit. Some of the measures are the freezing of salaries and pensions in 2025 or the taxation of large fortunes. The investiture of the new government in Bucharest, made up of the PSD-PNL-UDMR, sent a positive signal to Romanian businessmen and to foreign investors, claims the Prime Minister and social-democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu.

Schengen – As of January 1, 2025, when Romania enters the Schengen free travel area also with land borders, 33 border crossing points with Hungary and Bulgaria, as well as from the Black Sea and the maritime Danube, will be permanently closed, namely 17 road and rail crossing points located on Romania’s western border with Hungary and 14 road crossing points, including ferry crossings, rail and port crossing points on the border with Bulgaria and two port crossing points from Brăila and Cernavodă. The Interior Ministry has put up for debate a draft government decision in this regard. From the beginning of 2025, there will no longer be checks at the borders with Hungary and Bulgaria at the crossing points. Such checks will only be done randomly, based on risk analysis. Lifting controls at the land borders takes place after the so-called partial accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area, made at the end of March, when they joined the area only with the air and sea borders.

Recovery and Resilience – At the beginning of this week, Romania received over 37 million Euros from the European Commission as part of the second payment request from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan following the COVID-19 pandemic. So far, Romania has received 9.4 billion Euros out of a total of over 28 and a half billion Euros allocated to it. In mid December, the Romanian Government sent the European Commission the payment request number three, which involves a financing of 2.7 billion Euros. The money is given in the form of grants, and a series of reforms must be carried out in return.

Moldova – The Russian Foreign Ministry accused NATO, on Wednesday, of trying to turn the Republic of Moldova into a logistics center for the supply of the Ukrainian army and of trying to bring its military infrastructure closer to Russia. Maria Zaharova, the spokeswoman for the ministry, said that the majority of the population of the Republic of Moldova (mostly Romanian speaking) does not want to join the military alliance. She referred to the extensive arms transfers to Moldova in recent months and to Maia Sandu’s pro-Western views. In Bucharest, President Klaus Iohannis congratulated Maia Sandu on taking over her second mandate. Romania and the Republic of Moldova will continue to work for well-being, stability, European values, resilience and democracy, said Klaus Iohannis. On December 24, Maia Sandu was officially inaugurated as president of the Republic of Moldova. In her speech, she emphasized that European integration and justice reform remain the main objectives in her second term. Despite the regional and global crises, caused by the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, external threats and the Kremlin’s energy blackmail, the Republic of Moldova managed to maintain peace and advance on the European path, she said. Maia Sandu is the first woman to hold this position and the first president elected by direct vote, who obtained two mandates. (LS)

26 December 2024
September 14, 2024

A roundup of local and international news.

WEATHER – The weather is getting colder in Romania in most regions, with temperatures below the normal ones for this time of year. Normal values are recorded in the eastern and southeastern areas. Showers and storms are present in most regions. Five people lost their lives in Galati (east), on Friday night, and hundreds of people were evacuated following severe flooding caused by the heavy rain. In certain situations, the fire-fighters had to use pneumatic boats, as the water was 1.5m high in some areas. The floods led blocked county and national roads. Maximum temperatures today are between 13 and 25 degrees Celsius, with 17 degrees Celsius in Bucharest at noon.

DEFENSE – The U.S. State Department on Friday announced it has approved the sale of 32 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to Romania, in a deal worth $7.2 billion. Romania’s deal for the Lockheed Martin-made F-35s will also include F135 engines made by Pratt & Whitney for each jet and a spare engine, the Pentagon announced. The Romanian Defense Ministry hailed the decision and specified that, in addition to the jets, the purchase would also provide logistics and maintenance support, navigation, communications and cryptographic equipment, ammunition and weapons, training for pilots and other personnel, and simulators. “Romania is a key NATO Ally in promoting security and stability in the Black Sea region and beyond. The F-35As will provide Romania with unparalleled air defense capabilities and enhance interoperability among NATO air forces”, U.S. Ambassador Kathleen Kavalec said.

ENERGY – Romania’s natural gas deposits are full and the coal stocks are are at the required level. This is the conclusion of Friday’s meeting of the National Energy Command, convened by Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja. He specified that the problem is the significant fluctuation of energy prices in the short term, and one cause is the lack of interconnectivity between Austria and Hungary. The energy ministers from Romania, Bulgaria and Greece will present in about 10 days, to the Council of Ministers of the European Union, a preliminary plan for accelerating investments in interconnections, so that when energy is cheaper in one part of Europe, the other part can also benefit similar prices. Romania continues to be the second largest gas producer in the EU.

GERMAN BORDER – The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs warns its citizens traveling to Germany to prepare for longer waiting times, because the government in Berlin has decided to extend temporary checks at all land borders to reduce illegal migration. As of Monday, in addition to the temporary checks already in place at the land borders with Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Poland, there will also be checks at the borders with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark, for a period of six months. Romanians facing special situations can call the embassy’s hotlines in Berlin, as well as the Romanian consulates in Germany.

FARMERS – Romanian farmers will receive a bigger advance from the European funds, the Agriculture Ministry in Bucharest announced. According to the institution, advances will be granted in the amount of 70% from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund for direct payments and 85% from the European Fund for Rural Development, as a result of a derogation approved by the European Commission. The Romanian Agriculture Minister, Florin Barbu, has said that this will help farmers cope with the liquidity problems they face, in order to prepare for the new agricultural year. The Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture specified that a budget of approximately 1 billion euros was allocated to cover these amounts and that it is making efforts to start payments on October 16.

DRUGS – Three Albanian and three Romanian drug traffickers were detained by the Romanian law-enforcement agency DIICOT, after they were caught with approximately 4.5 kg of heroin. The drugs were prepared in a house in Ialomiţa county (south) and were intended for the Romanian market. The value of the heroin is approximately 50,000 euros. According to the Romanian Police, investigations began after two Albanian citizens entered the country on September 9, with the aim of trafficking a large amount of heroin. They then met with other members of the group in a house in Ialomiţa, where the drugs were mixed with additives, portioned and packaged. Later, the narcotics were distributed among the members of the group, according to DIICOT.

DAVIS CUP – The Romanian team leads China 2-0 in the Davis Cup World Group II after the first matches in Craiova (southwest). Saturday has started with the doubles match pitting Victor Cornea/Bogdan Pavel against Fajing Sun/Rigele Te. The last two singles matches will be played between Filip Cristian Jianu and Bu Yunchaokete, and between Creţu and Yi Zhou respectively. On Friday, tennis player Cezar Creţu beat Yunchaokete Bu 3-6, 6-4, 7-6, and Gabi Adrian Boitan defeated Yi Zhou 7-6, 6-2. Romania and China have never met at the Davis Cup before.

14 September 2024
Money for the modernization of transport infrastructure

Over 12 billion lei, about 2.4 billion Euros, were allocated by the Romanian Government for the rehabilitation of the country’s transport infrastructure. The executive met on Thursday to approve, among other things, two major investments in the railway and road sectors. The first project is that of rehabilitating the railway line that connects Focşani, the Vrancea county seat, located in the southeast of the country, to Roman, a city in Neamţ county, located in the northeast. The route, almost 150 kilometers long, is part of the Pan-European Corridor 9, which is 3,400 km long and connects the capital of Finland, Helsinki, located on the Baltic Sea, with the Greek city of Alexandroupoli, a port on the Aegean Sea in southern Europe.

The project, included in Romania’s General Transport Master Plan, received a little over 11 billion lei (about 2.2 billion Euros). The government has shown that the money comes from external non-reimbursable funds, through the Transport Program 2021-2027 and the Connecting Europe Facility, from the state budget, from the own revenues of the National Railway Company, as well as from other legally established sources. The works, that will last 36 months, aim to increase safety in the area where the railway lines intersect with the road network, to significantly improve transport conditions, to build passages and modernize level crossings, objectives which, according to the authorities, have an important role in the sustainable development of the localities on the route by reducing polluting emissions, travel times, as well as by increasing the number of passengers and the amounts of transported goods.

The second project that received funding from the Bucharest administration aims to rehabilitate a sector between kilometers 44 and 86 of the A1 Bucharest-Pitesti Highway, the busiest in the country. The works will aim to rehabilitate the road surface and the bridges on the 42 kilometers of the segment and, according to the Ministry of Transport, this will lead to an increase in the degree of traffic safety, to a reduction in travel times, a reduction in the cost for preventing environmental pollution and an increase in the duration of operation. For achieving this project, the Government allocated 1.1 billion lei (approximately 221 million Euros) from the state budget, and the duration of works is 48 months.

Romania has an outdated transport infrastructure that has turned into a veritable bottomless coin sack in recent decades. Of the more than 22,000 kilometers of railway that cross the country, just a little over 8,500 are electrified. As to roads, Romania has almost 90,000 kilometers of public roads, but less than half are modernized. As far as highways are concerned, last year Romania exceeded 1,000 kilometers, below Hungary and Croatia, above Bulgaria, Serbia and Slovenia, but Romania’s surface area and population are much higher than those of the above-mentioned states. (LS)

17 May 2024
August 17, 2023 UPDATE

TRAFFIC – Cargo traffic through the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanţa has reached almost 50 million tons in the first seven months of the year which is a record high. The grain trade accounted for 19 million tons, a quarter more than in the same period last year. Almost half of it is made with Ukraine. To facilitate the work, the Maritime Ports Administration will soon launch an IT application for booking road truck traffic, which will manage the flow of goods in real time. Since the beginning of the year, more than 385 thousand trucks have entered the port of Constanta.

MIGRANTS – More than 450 Ukrainian men have illegally crossed the border with Romania since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, to flee the war. Of these, 190 took refuge this year. The Ukrainians have either crossed the borders with Romania and the Republic of Moldova illegally, or they entered by corrupting customs officers and border policemen from Ukraine. The Romanian Border Police reported that the people were detected in Botoşani county (north-east) and requested a form of protection from the Romanian state, as a result of the fact that they are coming from a conflict zone. The border police notified the General Inspectorate for Immigration, and the persons in question were taken over by the Regional Accommodation Center for Asylum Seekers in Rădăuţi. After martial law was declared in the neighboring country, Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 no longer have the right to leave the national territory and are obliged to join the army the army, if necessary.

FUNDS – The Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism will grant non-refundable financing to people who want to invest in the infrastructure of Romanian spa and balneal resorts. Some 15 million lei have been allocated to the program for this year, approximately 3 million euros. Among the activities that will be financed are the expansion and modernization of accommodation facilities, public food and spa treatment, the purchase of equipment, furniture and specific medical equipment. The call for projects will be launched next month and registrations will be carried out exclusively online, on the turism.gov.ro website.

UKRAINE – The Romanian authorities firmly condemn Russia’s repeated aggressions against innocent people and civilian infrastructure after the attack on the Ukrainian ports of Reni and Izmail, located near Romania. The Romanian Foreign Minister, Luminiţa Odobescu, underlined that through these blatant violations of international law, Russia continues to endanger global food security and the safety of navigation in the Black Sea. The structures of the Romanian Defense Ministry, which ensure the monitoring of the airspace, state that they have not identified any threats of a military nature to Romania’s national territory or territorial waters following the attack, and have announced increased measures to monitor the national terrestrial, maritime and air space, in cooperation with the NATO structures.

TRADE – Germany is Romania’s most important commercial partner, the value of bilateral trade in 2022 standing at 40.68 billion Euros, higher by 17%, shows a press release of the Economy Ministry. In the same period, Germany was the first destination for Romanian exports, with a share of 20% of Romania’s total exports. At the same time, Germany represents for Romania the second source of foreign direct investments, with over 25,000 investing companies, mostly in the high tech industrial sectors. On Wednesday, the Economy Minister, Ştefan-Radu Oprea, met with the ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bucharest, Peer Olav Gebauer. The talks focused on boosting bilateral economic cooperation, aiming both at attracting German investments in Romania and at encouraging national companies that want to initiate and develop projects on the territory of Germany.

FOOTBALL – Romania’s football champions, Farul Constanţa (south-east), qualified for the Europa Conference League play-off, on Wednesday evening, after defeating the Estonian team Flora Tallinn with the score 2-0, away from home, in the second leg of the third preliminary round of the competition. In the first match, Farul had won 3-0. Farul will play in the play-off against the loser of the match pitting Qarabag FK (Azerbaijan) against HJK Helsinki (Finland), a match that takes place in the third preliminary round of the Europa League. The other two Romanian teams present in the Conference League, Sepsi Sfântul Gheorghe (central Romania) and FCSB, are playing today. Sepsi will play in Kazakhstan against FC Aktobe, after a one-all score in Romania, and FCSB will play in Norway against FC Nordsjaelland, with whom they ended the first match from Bucharest in a tie, 0-0. (EE)

17 August 2023
The special pension reform continues

The last week of the current parliamentary
session was devoted to bills which target sensitive areas and which, precisely
for this reason, had been long postponed. On Monday, in an almost unprecedented
political effort, Romania’s Senators and Deputies scrapped the special pensions
granted to MPs. The piece of legislation under which Romanian MPs give up what
the media and the public have long regarded as an immoral right, has already
been signed into law by President Iohannis.

On Wednesday, 2 other overdue bills were
endorsed. One of them no longer allows individuals to receive both public
sector salaries and retirement benefits, and the other is aimed at reforming
the special pension system, which relies only in part on contributions during
the employment period, and which benefits magistrates, military personnel,
diplomats, parliamentary and court staff as well as aeronautical personnel.

In the first case, exemptions from the
restriction concerning public sector salaries and pension benefits paid to the
same individual at the same time triggered fiery criticism, primarily because
these exemptions cover local elected officials and MPs, alongside other
categories, such as teaching staff, healthcare professionals, specialist carers
and employees of the Romanian Academy, the National Bank of Romania, the
National Energy Regulatory Authority and the Communications Regulatory
Authority.

A final favourable vote was also cast on the special
pension reform bill, but the draft submitted by the Government was
significantly amended. In this final version, the implementation of the reform
is basically postponed 5 years and extended until 2043. Until 2028, prosecutors,
judges and military personnel may retire under the same conditions as before. The
retirement age will be increased in several stages from 60 to 65, and minimum
25-year relevant seniority will be a requirement for retiring magistrates.

Pension benefits in excess of the national
average net salary will be subject to taxation, but the rate will be 15%
instead of the 30% originally suggested. All these provisions have been
discussed with EU experts, the PM Marcel Ciolacu said.

The reform of the special pension system is a
milestone in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. USR party in Opposition,
which would have liked special pensions to be scrapped altogether, voted
against the bill, arguing that it still leaves Romania with the same number of 210,000
special pension beneficiaries as before.

The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in
Romania, no longer a partner in the ruling coalition since the government
rotation, said a long time would pass until the system may rely exclusively on
lifetime contributions to pension funds. Even this version of the law, which according
to analysts saw its most radical provisions amputated, annoyed the Higher
Council of Magistrates. They disapprove of the amendments and claim Parliament
overlooked constitutional principles and endorsed measures that cause irreparable
damages to the independence of the judiciary and of magistrates. (AMP)

29 June 2023
July 28, 2022 UPDATE

UKRAINE The Romanian foreign ministry firmly criticised the move of
the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, who posted
on social media a map assigning current Ukrainian territories to Romania and
other neighbouring countries. The foreign ministry regards such attitudes as
part of the Russian Federation’s propaganda and disinformation campaign, which
has intensified since the start of the illegal and illegitimate war against
Ukraine. Such ‘proposals’ and ‘analyses’ concerning the random resetting of
national borders and promoting violations of international laws are just failed
attempts to justify Russia’s breaches of the international order based on
rules. The institution reiterates Romania’s full support for the independence,
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally
recognised borders, and once again condemns Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked
military aggression against that country. Romania is and will remain a partner
of Ukraine and reconfirms its full support and deep compassion for the
Ukrainian people, the victim of a brutal aggression, the institution’s news release
also reads.

FUNDS The prime minister Nicolae Ciucă has said Romania’s absorption
rate of European funds as part of the 2014-2020 financial exercise stands at
64.5%, a level similar to that of Germany and only slightly lower than France,
but ahead of older member states like Belgium (59%) and Italy, Spain and The
Netherlands (each with a little over 56%). According to Ciucă, Romania absorbed
22 billion Euros out of the 35 billion it is allocated in the 2014-2020 period.

DROUGHT Drought has so far affected 150,000 hectares of farmland in
20 different counties across Romania, said the agriculture ministry, based on
daily reports on the state of the crops. The irrigation systems are struggling
to cope, owing to the drop in the level of the water used to feed the
irrigation stations. The biggest such station, in Brăila county, in the
south-east, was shut down because of the low Danube water flow. The station was
providing water for 250,000 hectares of land in the region. The water flow of
the river Prut, in the east, is also dropping, having already reached a record
low level. Agriculture minister Petre Daea said the animal breeding sector is
also affected by drought.

WHISTLE-BLOWERS The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis Thursday sent
back to Parliament for reconsideration the Law on the protection of whistle-blowers,
stating that some of the legislative solutions must be revised. Previously, a coalition
of 20 NGOs, civil associations and trade unions, as well as whistle-blowers,
had sent an open letter to the president, urging him not to sign the bill into law.
Civil society organisations argue that in the form passed in Parliament, the
act reduces the protection mechanisms for whistle-blowers, and Romania risks
infringement procedures for the selective transposition of the relevant EU
Directive. Save Romania Union, in opposition, also called on Iohannis to send
the law back for urgent reconsideration, stating that the current text
dissuades corruption reporting and poses a major risk of Romania being left
without the funding under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. In
mid-July the Constitutional Court had dismissed USR party’s complaint
concerning the law, as unconstitutional.

DRILL Over 20 aircraft from 7 NATO member states Thursday took part
in a joint drill as part of the enhanced Vigilance Activities – eVA headed by
NATO AIRCOM based in Germany. According to the defence ministry, the goal of
the exercise is to prove NATO’s capacity to plan, coordinate and execute a
complex air space security mission in the event of any type of attack or threat
on Allied territory. In response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, NATO significantly
enhanced its defence and deterrence capability, including by means of
strengthening its presence on its eastern flank. (AMP)

28 July 2022
Signing of first contracts under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan

The first seven contracts financed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan have been signed in Bucharest by local authorities and the Ministry of Development. They aim at rehabilitating and modernizing some schools and city halls and at increasing the thermal efficiency of some administrative buildings. Attending the event, the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said that another 1,430 projects, worth more than 2.4 billion Euros, are pending. He has given assurances that all local communities, regardless of the region or the political affiliation of the mayor, have equal chances to funding through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Nicolae Ciucă: “The entire process of submitting projects and eligibility unfolded in a very transparent and modern manner, using a digital platform. Through this procedure, we ensure modern mechanisms through which to facilitate both the access of the local authorities and to prove to the Romanian citizens that they can trust the commitments we have made.”

The prime minister also said that the government was working on the second application for funding that is to be sent to the European Commission, so that Romania can fully benefit from the amount of 10 billion Euros allocated for this year. Funding from Brussels will be used also for a large part of Moldavia’s highway (A7), which connects the south to the north of Romania, and which measures a total of almost 440 km, up to the border with Ukraine. The section from Ploiești to Paşcani, about 320 km, is financed through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The National Road Company has signed the contract for the first section Ploiești – Buzău (60 km), worth almost 4 billion lei (about 800 million Euros), as well as for the construction of its middle sector, Mizil-Pietroasele (28 km). All the works must be finished by August 2026, in order to be disbursed through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, which is a short-term plan designed by the EU for relaunching the post-pandemic economies.

The transport minister Sorin Grindeanu asked the Road Company to sign the contracts for all 13 lots by the end of the year, a very tight schedule which is extremely difficult to observe, given that the authorities have not yet launched the tenders, which can be contested, and therefore the whole process protracted. Moldavias motorway will take over most of the traffic on the current E85 national road which has only one lane in each direction and a slightly wider roadside verge, often used irregularly by drivers as another lane of traffic. In terms of accidents, E85 road is currently the most dangerous in the entire country. Moldavias motorway is the first in Romania to adapt as much as possible to the European environmental norms. Thus, it will have 24 spaces for charging electric cars, 65 lots of anti-snow forest curtains will be planted on a total length of over 63 km and on an area of 160 hectares, and the technological roads will be used as bike lanes. (LS)

8 June 2022
Changes in the structure of the school year

It has become almost impossible to evaluate the successive reforms in the Romanian education system. Some of the reform projects promised to improve the system but were not completed because the reform promoters were the victims of political change. Not to mention the recent pandemic that has turned everything upside down. Now, the education ministry has announced changes in the structure of the school year.

As of autumn, the current semesters will be replaced by five learning modules, which will be separated by the same number of holidays. Courses are scheduled to begin earlier on September 5 and end on June 16. The announcement was made by education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu, who gave assurances that the decision was made after consultations with experts and following dialogue with the representatives of teachers, parents and students.

Sorin Cîmpeanu: “The agreed proposal was for school to begin on September 5, with a first learning module. After a period of a several weeks, on October 24, students will go on holiday, between October 24-30, this being their first holiday, a holiday for all students. This holiday is followed by the second learning module, which will run until around the winter holidays, so the second holiday will start on December 23rd and end on January 8th. Then follows module three, which will start on January 9th. And, for the first time, this module will run until February, when we will have the 3rd holiday; so, it’s a mobile one-week holiday in February, either on the second, third, or fourth week. After the February holiday follows the fourth module, which will run until around the Easter holidays. The holiday is scheduled for the period April 8-23. The last learning module is the 5th, which runs until June 16.

It all started from the need to alternate learning modules of 6-7-8 weeks with rest modules, as required by modern pedagogy, says the minister. And the changes go on. Minister Sorin Cimpeanu added that the regulations on the organization and functioning of pre-university education would be revised in the sense of eliminating the compulsory written semester test papers. In another development, the minister announced that approximately 1,400 schools would be financed with 190 million Euros through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

They finalized the selection process of the schools that would benefit, in a first stage, from funding through the National Program for Reducing School Dropout, an important component of the ‘Educated Romania’ project, minister Sorin Cimpeanu explained. Most of the funded schools will be in the rural areas. Digitization will play a key role in the teaching-learning process; the classic style, of writing with chalk on the board will be replaced by smart, interactive boards, which is a radical change in Romanian schools, the education minister concluded. (LS)

31 March 2022
Changes in the structure of the school year

It has become almost impossible to evaluate the successive reforms in the Romanian education system. Some of the reform projects promised to improve the system but were not completed because the reform promoters were the victims of political change. Not to mention the recent pandemic that has turned everything upside down. Now, the education ministry has announced changes in the structure of the school year.

As of autumn, the current semesters will be replaced by five learning modules, which will be separated by the same number of holidays. Courses are scheduled to begin earlier on September 5 and end on June 16. The announcement was made by education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu, who gave assurances that the decision was made after consultations with experts and following dialogue with the representatives of teachers, parents and students.

Sorin Cîmpeanu: “The agreed proposal was for school to begin on September 5, with a first learning module. After a period of a several weeks, on October 24, students will go on holiday, between October 24-30, this being their first holiday, a holiday for all students. This holiday is followed by the second learning module, which will run until around the winter holidays, so the second holiday will start on December 23rd and end on January 8th. Then follows module three, which will start on January 9th. And, for the first time, this module will run until February, when we will have the 3rd holiday; so, it’s a mobile one-week holiday in February, either on the second, third, or fourth week. After the February holiday follows the fourth module, which will run until around the Easter holidays. The holiday is scheduled for the period April 8-23. The last learning module is the 5th, which runs until June 16.

It all started from the need to alternate learning modules of 6-7-8 weeks with rest modules, as required by modern pedagogy, says the minister. And the changes go on. Minister Sorin Cimpeanu added that the regulations on the organization and functioning of pre-university education would be revised in the sense of eliminating the compulsory written semester test papers. In another development, the minister announced that approximately 1,400 schools would be financed with 190 million Euros through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

They finalized the selection process of the schools that would benefit, in a first stage, from funding through the National Program for Reducing School Dropout, an important component of the ‘Educated Romania’ project, minister Sorin Cimpeanu explained. Most of the funded schools will be in the rural areas. Digitization will play a key role in the teaching-learning process; the classic style, of writing with chalk on the board will be replaced by smart, interactive boards, which is a radical change in Romanian schools, the education minister concluded. (LS)

31 March 2022
European plan for refugees

The European interior ministers, meeting in Brussels in a special Council meeting, on Monday approved a ten-point plan for a better coordination in relation to the Ukrainian refugees. The plan envisages the immediate creation of a temporary registration platform for those entering the Union, the development of refugee transport centers, the mapping of reception capacities in the Member States and the establishment of a needs index in each European country. At the same time, based on indications related to the danger of human trafficking, the European multidisciplinary platform against the threat of organized crime has been activated, and Europol supports the authorities of the EU countries in this field.

According to European Commissioner Ylva Johansson, about 3.8 million people so far, mostly women, children, and old people have fled the Russian offensive in Ukraine. The number of daily arrivals in the European Union has decreased from 200 thousand, which was the peak of the refugee influx, to about 40 thousand, at present. Most people have chosen to take refuge in Poland, Austria and the Czech Republic, which is why Ms Ylva Johansson believes that refugees should be encouraged to also choose other European countries as their destinations.

There are no allocation quotas, and, at the moment, the talks between the EU member states to take some of the burden off the shoulders of the states, including non-EU states, bordering Ukraine, are based solely on volunteering. Thus, France, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands have already offered to take over almost 15,000 refugees from the small and poor Republic of Moldova, overwhelmed by the huge influx of Ukrainians.

Almost 600,000 people have entered Romania, which is also neighboring Ukraine, but most of them only to transit towards Western Europe. Against the background of the support actions undertaken by the Romanian State, on Monday, the Romanian Senate adopted an emergency ordinance that establishes the granting of humanitarian support and assistance to foreign citizens from Ukraine in special situations. The decision-making body in this case is the Chamber of Deputies.

Meanwhile, European Commissioners continue to pay visits to Bucharest. Early this week, European Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, came to Bucharest to talk to the Romanian authorities about the integration of refugees on the labor market, in the school system, and also about social and health insurance. The Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, requested, during his meeting with the European Commissioner, flexibility regarding the unused financial resources in the period 2014-2020, so that they can be used for the management of the Ukrainian refugee crisis. Actually, the European Commission intends to provide up to 17 billion Euros, part of which comes from unused budget funds in the above-mentioned financial year, for the countries that take over the most refugees. (LS)

29 March 2022
Decisions for reaching targets of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan

Under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) approved this fall in Brussels, Romania should receive from the EU, until 2026, a little over 29 billion euros. The money, under the shape of grants and loans, will go into investment and reforms structured around six pillars, namely, green transition, digital transformation, smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, social and territorial cohesion, health and economic, social and institutional resilience and policies for the new generation.

The European Union has so far disbursed 1.8 billion euros for Romania as pre-funding, the equivalent of 13% of the total amount. However, the further accessing of funds is conditioned by Romania reaching certain targets. For this purpose, the Bucharest Government adopted a number of projects on Thursday. One of them is aimed at reducing school dropout. With 543 million euro non-repayable funds, the Bucharest Government plans to decrease the school dropout rate, which currently stands at 15.6% in the urban area and at 26% in the rural area, to 9% by 2030.

Under the National Programme for reducing school dropout, passed by the Government, at least 2,500 schools at risk will be selected early next year and funded with 200,000 euros, for high performing education and extra school activities for children. Education Minister Sorin Cimpeanu explains: ”Children in these schools can go on school camps and take part in all kind of events that are eligible under this project. The purchase of sports equipment, IT equipment and even outfits for school activities are also eligible. School mediation activities and activities of additional psycho-pedagogical assistance needed after this difficult period, especially in areas with underprivileged communities where there are pupils with special needs, are also financed. ”

The Government also approved a decision regarding the development of rail infrastructure, with a view to increasing rail traffic by 25% and improving travel conditions for passengers by 2026. (EE)

31 December 2021
The 2022 budget, endorsed by Parliament

The 2022 state budget and social security budget were passed by the Bucharest Parliament with by a large majority and a few amendments. Politicians want the budget law to take effect at the start of the New Year, after debates in the plenary sitting were held at a fast pace so that, in four days alone, the two laws were green lighted by the expert committees and the plenary sitting. The budget was built on a 4.6% economic growth rate, a GDP of around 260 billion euros, an average inflation rate of 6.5% and a gross minimum average salary of about 1,200 euros per month. 7.7% of the GDP is for the social security budget.

A number of ministries will receive additional funds as of next year, such as the Transport Ministry, for infrastructure development and for the European projects and investment, for conducting of the programmes included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Social-Democrat senator Radu Oprea has said that investment will be covered both at the Transport Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry, and the business environment will receive 12.2 billion euros.

The Labour Ministry will also receive additional funds, to cover the increase in pensions, child allowances and subsidies for the people with disabilities starting the beginning of next year. Liberal deputy Gabriela Horga says that the pension is a right and not a social measure. ˮWe have a duty to pensioners, because they were productive citizens who, in their turn, contributed with a lifetime of work and have paid their pensions throughout their lives,ˮ Gabriela Horga said. Deputy with the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), Éva Csép, said that unemployment must be reduced and the new jobs must be stabile and predictable.

From the opposition, the leader of the ultranationalist party AUR, George Simion, says that pensions should be increased by a set amount, in order to eliminate major differences. In spite of the fact that the national budget and social security laws were passed by a large majority, Dan Barna, the vice president of the Save Romania Union (USR), in the opposition, has said that the Constitutional Court will be notified. According to Barna, the 2022 budget is a budget that passed the amendments of extremists and not a single amendment of USR, a discriminatory budget that only supports the majority that passed it, PSD and PNL. The main dissatisfaction of the Save Romania Union is that the 2022 state budget does not cover the funds needed by the local administrations headed by mayors from USR. (EE)

24 December 2021
December 23, 2021 UPDATE

BUDGET Romania’s state budget for the next year was endorsed by
Parliament in Bucharest on Thursday. Most of the budgets earmarked for the
state’s major institutions and ministries remained in the form proposed by the
government. The national insurance budget was also endorsed on Thursday. The
opposition USR has announced its intention to notify the Constitutional Court
on the state budget, about which USR vice-president Dan Barna says it
discriminates against the Romanians and supports the present Parliament
majority. On Monday, the PSD-PNL-UDMR approved the drafts and gave assurances
they are based on predictability and stability. The budget is based on a 4.6%
economic growth, a GDP of 260 billion Euros, and an inflation rate of 6.5%.

EU FUNDING The government of Romania passed an
emergency order allowing for the accessing of a roughly 15-billion euro loan
granted by the European Commission under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.
The loan agreement between the European Commission and Romania was signed in
Bucharest on 26th November and in Brussels on 15th
December. Under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Romania benefits
from some 29 billion euro, of which approx. 14 billion in non-reimbursable
funds and some 15 billion in loans. The loan will be available until the end of
2026. We have more on this after the news.

COVID-19 775 new SARS-CoV-2 infections have been reported in the past 24 hours in Romania,
along with 81 related fatalities, 44 of them from a previous date. Since the
start of the pandemic Romania has had around 1.8 million COVID-19 cases, and more than 58,000 patients
died. Amid anti-vaccine sentiments fuelled by
some media, politicians and opinion leaders, the country has the 2nd
lowest immunization rate in the EU, after Bulgaria.

REVOLUTION Romania’s Parliament convened on Thursday morning in a
solemn meeting devoted to the 32 years since the anti-communist revolution of
December 1989. Originating in Timișoara (west), on 16th December, the
uprising spread across the country, culminating with dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu
fleeing the capital city on 22nd December amid the protests of hundreds of
thousands of Romanians. Captured by the Army, Ceauşescu and his wife Elena were
subject to a summary trial and executed in the southern town of Târgovişte.
Romania was the only country behind the Iron Curtain where the change of regime
was accompanied by bloodshed. Over 1,000 people were killed and some 3,000
wounded.

(bill)

23 December 2021
September 17, 2021 UPDATE

CORONAVIRUS The government Friday passed a resolution making
the green certificate, attesting vaccination, negative testing or recovery from
COVID-19, compulsory upon entering
restaurants, gyms, or attending public and private events in areas where the infection rate is over 3 per
thousand. This is the same digital certificate required this summer for travel
within the EU. On Friday, authorities announced 4,478 new cases of COVID-19
infection in 24 hours, from over 46,000 tests.
In the same interval, 73 related fatalities were also reported and 762
patients treated in intensive care. Bucharest exceeded, on Friday, the
threshold of 2 per thousand inhabitants cumulated in 14 days, which brings the
capital city in the yellow zone. Meanwhile, on Thursday the National Committee
on Emergency Situations approved a new list of high-risk countries, valid as of
September 19. Bulgaria and France are now back in the yellow zone, and Spain is
listed as a green-zone country.

CONNECTING EUROPE Romania needs to step up investments in the rail
infrastructure, the European Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean said on
Friday. Attending the arrival in Bucharest’s main railway station of Connecting
Europe Express, a special train designed in the European Year of Rail, she
explained that Romania must plan its investments well, come up to solid
projects and manage these investments as efficiently as possible. I am aware of
the situation of railways in Romania and I undertake to do everything in my
power to help finance and develop it, the interim transport minister Dan Vîlceanu
said in his turn. Connecting Europe Express will stop in stations in 26
countries during its five-week, 20,000-km journey, before arriving in Paris on
October 7. The train departed from Lisbon and, before reaching Paris, it will
stop in Ljubljana, connecting the Portuguese, Slovenian and French presidencies
of the Council of the EU.

VISIT The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will be in
Bucharest on September 27, the EC deputy spokesperson Dana Spinant announced on
Friday. She added that in the coming days the Commission will complete its
assessment of Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Under the Plan,
Bucharest is set to receive over 29 billion euro, half of it in grants and half
in loans. Romania plans reforms and investments in transports, environment,
agriculture, healthcare, education, business environment, research, innovation,
digitisation as well as resilience in crisis situations. According to the
Commission, 18 states have already seen their national recovery plans approved,
and 12 of them have already received the first instalments of the funds for
investment projects.

COURT Romania’s Constitutional Court will discuss on September 28 the notification filed by the Liberal Prime
Minister Florin Cîţu’s Cabinet, in connection with an alleged constitutional
conflict with Parliament concerning the no-confidence motion filed by the
USR-PLUS alliance, a former junior coalition partner, and AUR, a nationalist
party, in the opposition. The Government denounced Parliament’s alleged
unconstitutional, disloyal and abusive behaviour towards the Government, as the
no-confidence motion tabled by the latter had allegedly been initiated, tabled
and communicated in terms that are against the Constitution. Pending the Court’s ruling, the debate and
vote on the motion are in standby, Parliament decided.

NEW
MEDIA ART The
biggest new media art event in Romania will be held on Saturday. iMapp
Bucharest – Winners league is also among the top three international video
mapping competitions. The works of teams from the US, Germany, Ukraine, Japan
and Hungary will be presented on the world’s biggest screening area, namely,
the façade of the Parliament Palace in Bucharest, of 23,000 sqm. The theme of
this year’s edition is The Show Must Go On and celebrates through works that
blend light, technology and music, the way in which people have been returning
to normal life.

NATO Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant-General Daniel
Petrescu is taking part over September 17-19 in the conference of the NATO
Military Committee, which brings together in Athens, Greece heads of military
from Allied countries. Talks will tackle NATO operations, missions and
activities. Additionally, the conference will also address means of
implementing the Deterrence and Defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area, and NATO’s
Warfighting Capstone Concept. According to the Romanian Defence Ministry, the
Military Committee will analyze the NATO 2030 initiative and all its military
implications and opportunities. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

17 September 2021
Connecting Europe Facility

2021 is the European Year of Rail, declared by the EU to promote the more frequent use of transport by train, which is a safe and environmentally friendly means of transport. Since few rail accidents are reported, this is also the safest means of land transport. The crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that, in exceptional situations, essential goods such as food, medicine and fuel can be transported quickly by rail.

However, the railway sector was severely affected by the crisis, and the number of passengers dropped substantially due to travel restrictions. Nevertheless, it can play an important role in achieving a sustainable recovery from the pandemic. Thus, in the summer, the European Parliament adopted the improved ‘Connecting Europe Facility’ (CEF) and provided new funding for the transport, energy and digital sectors for the period 2021-2027.

The program has a budget of over 33 billion Euros and will fund projects in the three areas with added value for the European Union. From this budget, Romania received an amount of approximately 1.2 billion Euros for investments in the transport infrastructure, for projects funded under the Cohesion Fund. In this case the EU co-financing rate can reach up to 85% of the total value of the project.

Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) will guarantee the completion in due time, by 2030, of several essential trans-European projects such as Rail Baltica, an infrastructure for alternative fuel supply and the introduction of 5G networks on major transport routes.

Almost 26 billion Euros will be allocated to transport projects, almost 6 billion Euros to the energy sector and about 2 billion Euros to the digital sector. Around 10 billion Euros allocated to cross-border transport projects will come from the Cohesion Fund and will support EU countries in completing transport connections that have been identified as missing. At the same time, 1.4 billion Euros will contribute to the accelerated completion of major cross-border railway projects that are falling behind schedule.

The projects benefiting from funding will be selected by the European Commission on a competitive basis. In the digital sector, the ‘Connecting Europe Facility’ will support the development of projects of common interest. These include safe and secure high-capacity digital networks, as well as the digitalization of the transport and energy networks. The program also aims at increasing the interoperability level of energy networks and at ensuring that the funded projects comply with climate and energy plans at national and European Union levels. (LS)

17 September 2021