Radio România Internațional

Tag: PM Dancila

  • March 4, 2019 UPDATE

    March 4, 2019 UPDATE

    Emergency decree – The emergency decree no. 114 includes a set of measures meant to boost economic development by raising the level of investments and by supporting projects directly benefiting the citizens — said Monday the PM Viorica Dancila in the plenum meeting of the Chamber of Deputies. She added that the decree would not be abrogated but it would be amended by the government. According to the PM, repealing the emergency decree would be tantamount to canceling the increase of incomes, investments and facilities. The PM was invited in Parliament by the Liberal opposition that contested the decree alongside the other opposition parties, the business environment and banks representatives. The controversial decree imposes new taxes in the banking, telecommunications and energy fields. Meanwhile, the Senate tacitly adopted during Monday’s plenum meeting, the draft law on the approval of emergency decree no. 114. In another development, the National Liberal Party announced they would file a simple motion against the finance minister Eugen Teodorovici, because emergency decree no. 114 will impact the Romanian economy and its consequences will be felt by all citizens.



    EU Council — One of the priorities of the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU is to develop the Union’s social dimension, by implementing the European pillar of social rights — said Monday the Romanian minister of Labor and Social Justice, Marius Budai, at the informal meeting of the Social Protection Committee. The event under way in Bucharest is being attended by as many as 90 EU experts. On the first day of the meeting, the European officials discussed ways to grant appropriate assistance to the most vulnerable people, minimum revenues to ensure a decent life that should allow access to social services and integration on the labor market. They also tackled ways to combat inequities and to promote active inclusion. On the second day of the meeting, the officials will debate, among other things, the results of implementing Europe 2020 Strategy and the OECD Report on financial incentives and savings schemes for retirement.



    BRUA — The BRUA natural gas conveyance project is very important for southeastern Europe, and Romania is totally devoted to achieving this project, as works on its territory are going according to the plan, said Monday in Brussels the Romanian energy minister Anton Anton. According to him, this gas pipeline will allow interconnection with the gas networks of the neighboring countries and will thus ensure enhanced energy security in the region. Minister Anton said that by means of BRUA the authorities hoped to create a genuine regional energy market that will contribute to the strengthening of the European single market. The Romanian official on Monday participated in Brussels in a meeting with representatives from Austria, Bulgaria and Hungary on the development construction works of the BRUA gas pipeline that will connect Bulgaria to Romania to Hungary and to Austria.



    OECD — Romania has received France’s support for accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development — OECD, the Romanian finance ministry officials announced on Monday. Finance minister Eugen Teodorovici thanked his French counterpart for the letter he addressed to the secretary general of the OECD and underlined that the gesture proved that the European partners appreciated the activity of the Romanian government within the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU and recognized Romania as an equal partner within the European community. According to finance minister Teodorovici Romania’s possible accession to the OECD would entail a number of advantages among which increased confidence in the country’s economy, access to instruments and centers of economic decision-making as well as the opportunity to contribute to the global economic governance. (news updated by L. Simion)

  • January 15, 2019 UPDATE

    January 15, 2019 UPDATE

    UPDATE (21.58): British MPs vote down the EU withdrawal agreement.

    British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit
    deal has been rejected by a majority of 230 votes in what is considered by the British media the
    largest parliamentary defeat of a sitting government in history.

    The Labour leader Jeremy
    Corbyn has already tabled a vote of no confidence in the government, with the support of the leaders of all other opposition parties, which could trigger general elections.

    REACTIONS: The
    President of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker     has posted the
    following message on Twitter: I take
    note with regret of the outcome of the vote in the House of Commons this
    evening. I urge the UK to clarify its intentions as soon as possible. Time is
    almost up.

    In his turn, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, asks on Twitter, too: If a deal is impossible, and no one wants no deal, then who will finally have the courage to say what the only positive solution is?

    The Romanian minister delegate for European Affairs, George Ciamba, writes on Twitter as well: Really bad Brexit. RO2019EU is in close contact with EU institutions. We will stay united. We count on UK to protect the rights of European citizens as already promised. All options are still open.


    Strasbourg – The Romanian PM Viorica Dancila stated Tuesday in Strasbourg that Europe has always been able to overcome obstacles and to start anew after less fortunate events in its history, adding that it was important to show the European citizens that the EU institutions are working in their interest. Referring to the postponement of Romanias Schengen accession, PM Dancila said that Romanians perceived it as an inequity. The Romanian PM presented to the European Parliament the priorities of Romanias presidency of the Council of the EU. Brexit and the negotiation of the Union budget for the period 2021-2027 are among the most important issues Romania will have to manage in the coming period. Romanias priorities as president of the Council of the EU rely on 4 pillars: a Europe of convergence, implying growth, cohesion, competitiveness, connectivity, a Europe of safety, Europe as a global actor and a Europe of common values. The Romanian PM visits Strasbourg after, last weekend, the president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Council Donald Tusk and the president of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani as well as members of the College of Commissioners came to Bucharest to participate in the official ceremony marking the launch of Romanias presidency of the Council of the European Union, taken over on January 1, 2019.



    National Culture Day – Romanias National Culture Day was celebrated on January 15 for the 9th consecutive year, on the same day with the birthday anniversary of Romanias greatest poet Mihai Eminescu. Many events were held to mark the two anniversaries in Romania and the European capitals. A festive meeting took place at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest when the Romanian Academy launched the application ‘Mihai Eminescu, complete works available free of charge on Smartphones. Romanias National Culture Day was also celebrated in the neighboring Republic of Moldova as well as in the Romanian communities from abroad.



    Protest – The protest of the miners with the Oltenia Energy Compound (in the south) carries on after, on Tuesday, the administration agreed with a pay rise of 12% for the production staff and with granting holiday vouchers. Several employees went on hunger strike and the board claims the protest is illegal and does not comply with the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The miners have asked for a rise in their pay starting from 850 Euros per each employee, for holiday vouchers, more money for Saturdays and Sundays and improved working conditions. The miners protest started on Friday when 200 miners at the Jilt Nord pit refused to work. The protests gradually extended to all the companys pits. Official data show that at present the situation of the national energy system is normal, the input of coal to the system standing at a constant amount of more than 23%.



    Sentence – The former president of Romanias Professional Football League Dumitru Dragomir on Tuesday received from the Bucharest Court a 4 year-imprisonment conviction. He is accused of having received more than 3 million Euros in bribe between 2009 – 2011 from the RCS/RDS company administrator Ioan Bendei in exchange for granting the rights for televising the League 1 football matches. According to the court decision, Dumitru Dragomir was sentenced for the crimes of bribe taking and money laundering. In the same file, Ioan Bendei was also sentenced to 4 years in prison. The decision is not definitive and can be challenged. In the past year, Dumitru Dragomir was investigated in several files but he was acquitted even if he had initially received many years in prison in the trial court.



    Flu – In Romania, 8 people have so far died of the flu this winter, the National Institute for Public Health announced on Tuesday. The latest victim is a 17-year old boy from Teleorman county (in the south) who had caught the type A flu virus. He had other medical conditions and had not been given the flu vaccine. According to health minister Sorina Pintea there is no flu epidemic in Romania at present. She recalled for the population that vaccination was the safest and most efficient method to prevent the flu. (news translated by L. Simion, updated by D. Vijeu)

  • December 4, 2018

    December 4, 2018

    Brussels — The Romanian PM Viorica Dancila is today participating in Brussels in a conference on the future of Europe, organized by the Aspen Romania Institute. The meeting is meant to create a regional platform for defending and promoting the European integration project, at a time of intense internal and external pressure. Organizers aim at coming up with new perspectives in preparation for the European Council meeting to be hosted next year by the central Romanian city of Sibiu and at providing answers to the new political context created by Brexit and the upcoming elections for the European Parliament. Also on Tuesday Viorica Dancila is having meeting with Romanian MEPs. On Wednesday the Romanian PM will attend, alongside other members of the cabinet, the joint meeting of the Romanian Government and the European Commission in the run up to Romania’s future presidency of the Council of the EU. Romania’s strategy is based on 4 main themes: the convergence policy, the EU’s internal security, the EU’s foreign policy and common European values.



    London — The British Parliament is today starting debates on the Brexit agreement which Brussels has agreed upon with the Conservative PM Theresa May, who cannot count on a majority that should guarantee a positive vote on the deal on December 11. The Brexit deal stipulates the juridical conditions for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the EU on March 29, 2019. The agreement provides for an initial period of transition until the end of 2020, a period of time when nothing will change in the relations between the UK and the EU. Subsequently, if the period of transition is not extended by one year or two at the most, the UK will remain in the EU Customs Union unless another deal is brokered, regarding other types of trade relations.



    MAE — The Romanian Foreign Ministry believes that the article carried by the DPA German Press Agency and taken over by the German public television ZDF regarding the anniversary of Romania’s Great Union Centennial does not observe the historical truth, includes serious errors and a tendentious approach. In a communiqué to AGERPRES news agency, the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced that they took the necessary steps, through the agency of the Romanian Embassy in Berlin, to have the two German institutions provide clarifications for their gesture and make the required corrections. On December 1, 2018 ZDF carried a piece of news about Romania’s National Day, taken over from the DPA, which said that Romania celebrated 100 years since the annexation of the former Hungarian province of Transylvania. The Romanian Foreign Ministry underlines that on December 1, 1918 at the National Assembly in Alba Iulia (in central Romania) 100 thousand people decided upon the union with Romania, with the participation of all parties, religious denominations and social categories. The resolution of the National Assembly in Alba Iulia was first signed by the representatives of the German minority in Transylvania and Bukovina, the MAE recalls in the communiqué.



    Corruption — The juridical committee in Romania’s Senate has today postponed the vote on the request made the National Anti-Corruption Directorate to start the criminal prosecution of the speaker of the Senate, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, who is accused of bribe taking. The committee will draft a report after which the request for lifting the official’s immunity will be voted in the plenum of the Senate. In early November, the DNA had asked for the Senate’s approval to begin the criminal investigation of Calin Popescu Tariceanu. Prosecutors claim that the speaker of the Senate indirectly received bribe worth 800 thousand dollars, between 2007 and 2008, when he was prime minister, from an Austrian firm. The money accounted for a 10% commission on the value of the contract addendum and was allegedly used by the dignitary for his own benefit.



    Handball — Romania’s national handball team has qualified to the main groups of the European Championship hosted by France, after defeating the German team 29-24 on Monday evening, in Brest. That was the Romanians’ second match in Group D. In the first match, the Romanian handballers defeated the Czech team. They will play their last match in the group, on December 5, against Norway. Romania’s national handball team’s best result so far was the bronze medal at the 2010 European Championship. The leader of Romania’s national team Cristina Neagu scored 5 times in the match against Germany, thus becoming the best goal scorer in the history of the European Championships with 206 goals. (translation by L. Simion)

  • November 7, 2018 UPDATE

    November 7, 2018 UPDATE

    Doha — The Romanian PM Viorica Dancila on Wednesday presided over an economic forum held in Doha, on the occasion of her official visit to Qatar. In this context, the PM presented the main projects and business opportunities that can be implemented by means of public-private partnerships as well as the intention of the Romanian authorities to cooperate more closely with businesspeople from Qatar. PM Dancila encouraged them to come and invest in Romania in key sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture, tourism and healthcare. She highlighted Romania’s geostrategic position and economic growth reported in the past years.



    Cooperation — The European company Airbus and the Romanian company IAR Ghimbav have signed a contract of exclusive cooperation for a period of 15 years for the production, in Romania, of the twin-engine multirole helicopter H215M. Airbus and IAR have been, for more than a decade, partners in the Airbus Helicopters Romania company, a successful center specializing in maintenance and repair work services for a wide range of civil and military helicopters from Romania and other countries. Export contracts account for 75% of the Airbus Helicopters Romania’s turnover. In 2016, Ghimbav saw the inauguration of the Airbus Helicopters Industries factory specialized in the production of H215M helicopters. IAR, a company with majority state-owned assets, is one of Romania’s leaders in the aeronautics field, being specialized in the production and maintenance of helicopters. Airbus is a world leader in aeronautics and services in the space domain.



    CCR — Romania’s Constitutional Court (CCR) on Wednesday admitted, with a majority of votes, the government’s notification regarding the existence of a juridical conflict of a constitutional nature between Parliament and the High Court of Cassation and Justice regarding the setting up of panels of judges. Thus, the High Court of Cassation and Justice is bound to take the necessary measures, as soon as possible, to appoint all the 5 members of the panels by drawing of lots, not only 4 judges as has happened since 2014. The panels of 5 judges with the High Court judging criminal cases are dealing with important cases in which politicians such as the PSD leader L. Dragnea, the leader of ALDE C. P. Tariceanu and the former head of the government’s general secretariat, Toni Grebla, a former judge with the Constitutional Court are also involved. Following the decision of the CCR many cases handled by the High Court of Cassation and Justice might be re-judged from scratch.



    Washington — The Romanian interior minister Carmen Dan will be the US on Thursday and Friday to participate in the EU-US Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting. At this high level meeting, which is also going to be attended by the US Attorney General, the Romanian minister will present the home affairs priorities of Romania’s future presidency of the EU Council. The meeting is organized by the Austrian presidency of the EU Council in Washington DC, according to a preset timetable, namely in the first half of the year, the venue of the meeting is in the state holding the presidency of the EU Council, while in the second half of the year, the venue is in the US capital. The EU is represented in Washington by the interior and justice ministers of the Austrian presidency of the EU Council, by Romania’s delegation, a country that will take over the EU Council presidency on January 1, 2019 and by the EU Commissioners for migration, home affairs and security.



    Ashgabat — The Romanian athlete Nicolae Onica on Wednesday won the bronze medal in the total event, the 96 kg category, at the World Weightlifting Championships held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. In the final classification he was outperformed by Iranian Sohran Moradi and Chinese Tao Tian. (new translated and updated by L. Simion)

  • September 17, 2018 UPDATE

    September 17, 2018 UPDATE

    Three Seas Initiative — Romania is interested in maintaining a robust and operational trans-Atlantic relation which is vital for the system of values of the western civilization, the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis stated on Monday in Bucharest on the occasion of the Three Seas Initiative Summit. According to President Iohannis a good way to bridge the economic development gap between the old and new EU members is to boost interconnectivity in the region of the three seas, first and foremost in the energy, transport and digital fields. The first edition of the Initiative Business Forum has been held on the sidelines of the event. The President of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker is for the first time participating in this summit. Three Seas Initiative is a flexible political platform at presidential level that gathers 12 EU member states located between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas.



    EBRD — The Romanian PM Viorica Dancila on Monday held talks in Bucharest with a delegation headed by the president of the EBRD Suma Chakrabarti about future cooperation for the modernization of the hospital network in Romania and for funding infrastructure projects. According to a government communiqué, the talks focused on the public-private partnership, the internationalization of Romanian companies, the involvement of the EBRD in structuring and making operational the future Sovereign Fund as well as on the prospects of setting up a Development Bank. So far the EBRD has invested almost 8 billion Euros in Romania, in over 400 projects, the Romanian government reports.



    Ambassador — The Foreign Policy Committee in the Romanian Senate sent a letter to the Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu asking him to assess to what extent maintaining George Maior in the position of Romania’s ambassador to the US is still beneficial to Romania’s interests. The speaker of the Senate Calin Popescu Tariceanu said that Maior’s activity as ambassador is not outstanding and criticized him for having made uninspired declarations regarding a recent letter of the former mayor of New York Rudolph Giuliani. Calin Popescu Tariceanu announced his intention to ask the foreign minister to recall George Maior, who actually rejected all accusations brought against him. A former federal prosecutor, Rudolph Giuliani, who is currently one of the lawyers of President Donald Trump, has recently sent the Romanian President a letter in which he denounced certain abuses of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and expressed concern with the consequences of the secret protocols concluded by several public institutions with the Romanian Intelligence Service. George Maior then said that the letter was the result of the lobby initiated by certain people interested in defending people from Romania with legal problems.



    Eurostat — In August Romania reported, for the 7th consecutive month, the highest annual inflation rate within the EU, show data published on Monday by Eurostat. Consumption prices went up in August by 4.7% after in July the annual inflation rate had reached 4.3%. At the EU level, in the same month, the annual inflation rate reached 2.1%. Romania is followed by Bulgaria and Estonia in the classification of EU members with the highest annual inflation rates.



    EU Council — The Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici on Monday said that Romania would have the role of mediator in its capacity as president of the EU Council in the first 6 months of 2019. He said that Romania should have a balanced approach in promoting the European interests. Romania’s responsibility will be great as, through the Finance Ministry, it will also hold the presidency of the Board of Governors of the European Investment Bank, minister Teodorovici added. (news updated by Lacramioara Simion)

  • European Funds for Romania

    European Funds for Romania


    The European Commissioner for European Funds Corina Creţu has traveled to Romania frequently, of late, to warn the central and local authorities that sustained efforts are needed to speed up the absorption of European funds and to cut back on the risk of losing the substantial amounts of community money allotted to Romania. However, these funds should be spent based on certain projects that should bridge the gaps separating Romania from the other EU countries. Besides the lack of interest, some of the causes for the current situation are the red tape, which blocks many actions, the Romanian additional legislation in the field and the contestation of tender results, which involves long settlement deadlines in court.



    Commissioner Corian Creţu: “I have always said that administrative capacity is more important than the money itself. In the recent discussions which I have held with the prime minister and the government representatives, I have pointed out to this very necessity of urgently tackling these issues, namely simplifying procedures, employing competent people, speeding up assessment and contracting of projects and providing support to beneficiaries or applicants.”



    During her visit to Bacău, in eastern Romania, Commissioner Creţu joined the PM Viorica Dăncilă for a meeting with the mayors of 39 of Romania’s county seats that receive direct European funds for development, urging them to send quality projects to Brussels. According to Corina Creţu, Romania was not ready to access European funds for such projects in January 2007 when it joined the EU. But the time has not run up yet. In a communiqué made public prior to her visit to Romania, Commissioner Creţu said that over one billion Euros would be invested in urban development in Romania, and the European Commission was ready to offer the necessary support to the Romanian authorities for these resources to be used more efficiently and faster. PM Viorica Dăncilă announced that the public purchase law would be modified with a view to reducing the deadlines for solving the contestations made after the tenders for European funds.



    PM Viorica Dăncilă: “We also intend to make projects for highways. We intend to build highways using European funds, and we’ll also rely on the public-private partnership law that has already been published in the Official Gazette.”



    Recently Corian Creţu has expressed concern over Romania risking to lose substantial European funds for transports.

  • European Funds for Romania

    European Funds for Romania


    The European Commissioner for European Funds Corina Creţu has traveled to Romania frequently, of late, to warn the central and local authorities that sustained efforts are needed to speed up the absorption of European funds and to cut back on the risk of losing the substantial amounts of community money allotted to Romania. However, these funds should be spent based on certain projects that should bridge the gaps separating Romania from the other EU countries. Besides the lack of interest, some of the causes for the current situation are the red tape, which blocks many actions, the Romanian additional legislation in the field and the contestation of tender results, which involves long settlement deadlines in court.



    Commissioner Corian Creţu: “I have always said that administrative capacity is more important than the money itself. In the recent discussions which I have held with the prime minister and the government representatives, I have pointed out to this very necessity of urgently tackling these issues, namely simplifying procedures, employing competent people, speeding up assessment and contracting of projects and providing support to beneficiaries or applicants.”



    During her visit to Bacău, in eastern Romania, Commissioner Creţu joined the PM Viorica Dăncilă for a meeting with the mayors of 39 of Romania’s county seats that receive direct European funds for development, urging them to send quality projects to Brussels. According to Corina Creţu, Romania was not ready to access European funds for such projects in January 2007 when it joined the EU. But the time has not run up yet. In a communiqué made public prior to her visit to Romania, Commissioner Creţu said that over one billion Euros would be invested in urban development in Romania, and the European Commission was ready to offer the necessary support to the Romanian authorities for these resources to be used more efficiently and faster. PM Viorica Dăncilă announced that the public purchase law would be modified with a view to reducing the deadlines for solving the contestations made after the tenders for European funds.



    PM Viorica Dăncilă: “We also intend to make projects for highways. We intend to build highways using European funds, and we’ll also rely on the public-private partnership law that has already been published in the Official Gazette.”



    Recently Corian Creţu has expressed concern over Romania risking to lose substantial European funds for transports.

  • Changes to the public-private partnership law

    Changes to the public-private partnership law

    On Thursday, the Romanian Government adopted an emergency ordinance that regulates public-private partnership. Under the ordinance, public-private partnership is aimed at delivering, rehabilitating or extending assets that are to become part of the public patrimony. Also, the law regulates the possibility of running under a public-private partnership projects that entail exclusively the provision of a public service.



    One of the main elements of a public — private partnership is that contractual relations must cover a period of at least 5 years, allowing the private partner to recover its investment and make a reasonable profit. Other important aspects relate to the funding of the project, which is mainly from private funds and, if applicable, by using jointly private and public funds or by distributing risks between the public and the private partners, depending on the capacity of each contracting party to assess, manage and control a certain risk.



    Prime Minister Viorica Dancila has stated that the new provisions include measures for the local administration, and also stipulate the setting up, within a year, of a special fund to finance public-private partnerships at national level.



    Viorica Dancila: “Romania has never had a successful public-private partnership law. So, this is first about unblocking the legislation, and compressing contract awarding deadlines based on a substantiation study according to which the private partners, are selected.”



    The private investor who wins and concludes a public-private partnership contract becomes a private partner. The Government may decide, under a decree, that certain projects it deems strategic are to be prepared and awarded on behalf of the public partners that are to implement them by the National Strategy and Forecasting Committee.



    The Government spokesperson Nelu Barbu has stated that the law is clear and it will be accompanied by a best practices guide that is not mandatory, but useful. Nelu Barbu: “The ordinance regulates the possibility of running public-private partnerships that entail exclusively the provision of a public service. For instance, the hospitals that need investments can benefit from such partnerships.”



    The public partner has the right to monitor and control, all throughout the unfolding of the public-private partnership, the way in which the private partner meets its obligations, as stipulated in the partnership contract or in the applicable legal provisions.

  • April 26, 2018

    April 26, 2018

    Tel Aviv — The Romanian PM Viorica Dăncilă on Thursday met with the Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on the last day of her official visit to Israel. She will also meet with the Greek-Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Teophilus III, and will visit Jerusalem’s Old City. Viorica Dăncilă and her Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted the excellent level of bilateral relations. The Romanian official appreciated the interest of the Israeli authorities in concluding a partnership in the field of the new technologies, which will allow for running common projects. The two also discussed issues related to cooperation in the military, strategic and cyber security fields. In another move, the two officials also talked about moving the Romanian Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Benjamin Netanyahu hailing the decision of the Romanian government to start assessing this move. Another issue on the agenda of talks was the appointment of a Romanian ambassador to Israel given that for almost one year and a half Bucharest has not sent a diplomat mission to that country.



    Diplomacy — The speaker of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea is today meeting with the Israeli president Reuven Rivlin and with the PM Benjamin Netanyahu as part of his official visit to Israel. The visit takes place at the invitation of the Israeli PM in the context of the anniversary of 70 years of diplomatic relations between Romania and Israel and of 70 years since Israel proclaimed its independence.



    Protests — Thousands of Romanian healthcare employees are today participating in Bucharest in a protest rally organized by the Sanitas trade union federation. Trade unionists are discontented with the drop in the salaries of some of the healthcare staff following the implementation of the new salary scheme, which provides for a maximum cap on benefits of 30%. According to the rally organizers, there are two categories of employees, physicians and nurses, whose salaries have increased, but there are at least 7 other categories whose salaries dropped by 350 Euros per month. The protest rally held in Bucharest will be followed by a token strike scheduled for May 7 and on May 11 trade unionists intend to start an all-out strike in the healthcare and social services system.



    Veterans Day – The Romanian Defense Ministry is organizing, as of Thursday until Sunday, in all garrisons across Romania, manifestations devoted to the War Veterans Day. Manifestations include military and religious ceremonies, wreath laying ceremonies, solemn meetings of the associations of war veterans, shows and exhibitions. Similar manifestations devoted to the memory of the Romanian soldiers will be held at commemorative monuments in the Czech Republic, the Republic of Moldova, Russia, Slovakia and Hungary. The Veterans Day is celebrated every year on April 29 and marks the merits of war veterans in defending Romania’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. e in the healthcare and social services system.



    Venice Commission — The Monitoring Commission of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly approved the request of the Romanian right wing opposition party, the National Liberal Party, to ask the Venice Commission for an opinion regarding the modifications to the justice laws proposed by the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. The Liberals explained that they resorted to this gesture after the repeated refusals of the coalition to ask for the opinion of international experts regarding these modifications. Some of these modifications to the justice laws adopted by parliament in winter resulted in large-scale street protests.



    Tennis — The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, world’s no.1, has qualified to the quarterfinals of the WTA tournament in Stuttgart, which awards total prizes worth 816,000 dollars. Halep defeated Slovak Magdalen Rybarikova (18 WTA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Next Simona Halep will take on the winner of the match pitting the German Laura Siegemund against CoCo Vandeweghe of the US. Halep was defeated, in the past 2 years, in Stuttgart by the German Laura Siegemund, in 2016 in the eight finals and in 2017 in the semifinals.



    Handball — 4 handball players with CSM Bucharest, Paula Ungureanu, Cristina Neagu, Marfit Frafjord and Camille Ayglon Saurina were nominated for the ideal team of the women’s handball Champions League as part of a survey conducted by the European Handball Federation. On May 12 CSM Bucharest, Romania’s champions, will take on the Hungarian team Gyori Audi ETO KC, a trophy holder, in the semifinals of the Champions League, at the Final4 tournament in Budapest. In the other semifinal, Rostov on Don (Russia) will be up against Vardar Skopje (Macedonia). CSM Bucharest won the Champions League in 2016 and in 2017 it got the 3rd position. (news translated by Lacramioara Simion)

  • Problems in accessing EU funds

    Problems in accessing EU funds

    On her first visit to Brussels since she took office, Social-Democrat Prime Minister Viorica Dancila met with high-ranking EU officials. On Tuesday, Dancila had talks with European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu. The meeting focused on Romania’s delays in absorbing European funds. Commissioner Cretu warned that Bucharest authorities needed to rush and simplify procedures for accessing European funds. 2018 is a crucial year for EU fund absorption, as Romania risks losing hundreds of millions of euros.



    Corina Cretu went on to say that Romanian authorities are aware of this danger and are planning new measures. “We have agreed that concerted and immediate action is needed to approach the risk of absorption. First of all, Romania risks losing 800 million Euros under Regional Operational Programmes. The Prime Minister decided to set up a think tank aimed at simplifying procedures for absorbing European funds in Romania, and I have decided to name someone to represent me as EU Commissioner”.



    One of highest risks right now in terms of losing European funding is the building of the three regional hospitals, in Iasi, Cluj-Napoca and Craiova respectively, a project started three years ago, which nevertheless reported huge delays in the implementation phase.



    Corina Cretu: “Time flies. The Commission approved these projects in July 2015. It’s 2018 now, and things are advancing very slowly. The only thing certain right now, unfortunately, is the location for these hospitals, which the Government has agreed jointly with authorities in Iasi, Cluj and Craiova”.



    By the end of next month feasibility studies are due to be completed. However, due to delays, the authorities have come up with a new timetable, according to which the studies will be made public in October, so that construction works can start early next year. Unless the authorities observe the new timetable, the risk of losing the European funds approved for these projects will increase exponentially. EU member states have to comply with a so-called disengagement rule, according to which the Commission can withdraw its funding if the money isn’t spent within three years of their disbursement to national authorities.



    So, if construction works aren’t finished and payments haven’t been fully covered within the eligibility period, which in this case is 2023, the Commission will no longer be able to provide refunds. We recall that Romania was allotted over €20 billion for the 2014-2020 financial framework to use in economic investments, but our country has so far absorbed only 5% of this sum.