Romanian President Klaus Iohannis
on Friday promulgated the new Forestry Code, after Parliament had rejected his
request for the law to be reexamined. On May 20th the Chamber of
Deputies, as decision-making body, rejected the President’s request and passed
the law in its initial version.
The President’s request had been
previously met with opposition from the Senate as well. In March, Klaus
Iohannis said in his request for reexamination that the provisions of
this law would arbitrarily limit the activity of companies, which would create
advantages for some and disadvantages for others, have a negative impact on
competition and give rise to situations when the Romanian state, as an EU
member, could be accused of violating its own commitments.
According to president Iohannis, the introduction of the maximum
threshold of 30% upon the purchase or processing wood from Romania’s forests
and the pre-emption right for furniture producers when buying wood will violate
the principles of economic and contractual freedom underlying the market
economy. The Romanian President can send the law
back to Parliament for reexamination only once but he can challenge it at the
Constitutional Court, something he says he does not plan to do.
Unhappy with the fact that they were not allowed
to propose any amendments to the bill after its adoption by Parliament, the
Liberals, in opposition, suggested a project that they wanted included in the
law on national security, stipulating that the illegal deforestation of more
than 1 hectare should be considered a threat to national security. President
Iohannis has recently announced that the issue of illegal deforestation will be
discussed at the meeting of the Supreme Defense Council on Tuesday.
In Bucharest and several other cities, thousands
of people have been protesting lately against the deforestation and illegal
logging of the last years. Protesters are calling on the authorities to pass
laws likely to ensure a transparent exploitation of the natural resources that
need to be preserved and considered national heritage. They are also calling on
decision-makers to carry out more thorough checks at the wood processors, put
an end to illegal deforestation, ban the unprocessed wood exports indefinitely
and strengthen control institutions and the means of monitoring the transports
of logs and timber.
The Government proposed last month that timber
and firewood exports should be suspended until August 31st. As of
this date until the yearend wood trade should be strictly monitored. All these
measures have formed part of two emergency ordinances aimed at regulating the
wood market more strictly.
