Radio România Internațional

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  • January 14-19, 2018

    January 14-19, 2018


    Change of government in Bucharest


    The ruling coalition made up of the Social-Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats from Romania is preparing the structure of the new cabinet after Social-Democrat MEP Viorica Dancila was designated Prime Minister earlier this week, the first woman to hold this position in Romania. If voted in Parliament, this cabinet will be the third proposed by the ruling coalition within a single year. The change follows the resignation of Mihai Tudose, who stepped down amidst tensions with Social-Democratic leader, Liviu Dragnea, and losing his own partys political support, at the end of a six-month mandate.



    In the wake of consultations with parliamentary parties, the countrys President, Klaus Iohannis, accepted the ruling coalitions nomination, entrusting MEP Viorica Dancila with the task of forming a new cabinet, much to the discontent of the opposition and part of civil society. The president was harshly criticized on social media for nominating a Prime Minister who had done little to recommend her for the job. The President motivated his choice, arguing that both the Constitution and coalitions majority in Parliament dictated to accept the nomination. On the other hand, Klaus Iohannis reminded the Social Democrats they needed to start honoring their promises.



    Klaus Iohannis: “Romanians have high expectations and so do I. The Social-Democrats have promised a great many things in the election campaign, salaries, pensions, new schools, new textbooks, hospitals, infrastructure, and what they have achieved so far is too little. Its time the Social-Democrats proved they are willing to keep their promises”.



    Visibly pleased, the Social Democrats said the president chose stability. The National Liberal Party in opposition is calling for early elections, arguing that the most recent crisis that shook the Social-Democratic Party proves their inability to govern.



    Japans Prime Minister visits Bucharest


    This week the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, paid a historic visit to Bucharest, the first of a Japanese official since diplomatic ties between the two countries were first established, 100 years ago. Romania and Japan decided to the channel their efforts in order to upgrade their bilateral relation into a Strategic Partnership, President Klaus Iohannis announced at the end of Tuesdays talks with the Japanese Prime Minister. Relations between the two countries have reached the next level, which boost cooperation in all fields, the President went on to say.



    Klaus Iohannis: “We have agreed that we share the same values and strategic objectives, we have similar assessments in terms of security in this highly volatile context, and we also have common economic interests. I have urged Japanese businesspeople to invest more in Romania and have encouraged two-way trade. I am glad Prime Minister Abe came to Romania accompanied by a significant delegation of businesspeople. Weve had a fruitful exchange of opinions on our cooperation in the field of security and we have discussed the security of our regions, with a focus on the latest developments in the Black Sea region and North Korea.”



    Romania has a strategic geographic position and is a crucial partner for Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, underlining that the two countries share common values and principles such as freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The Japanese official also underlined the importance of cooperation in the economic and security fields. Japanese companies are interested in Romania, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, adding that visas for Romanians interested in traveling to Japan would be lifted. The Japanese official canceled his meeting with Prime Minister Mihai Tudose after the latter stepped down.



    National Culture Day


    Special events were held this week, both at home and abroad, to mark National Culture Day, celebrated on January 15th, the birth of Mihai Eminescu, a Romanian poet, prose writer, playwright and journalist, whom literary critics regard as the greatest poet in Romanian literature. Eight years ago the Romanian Academy proposed that this day be declared National Culture Day. Here is the man behind this proposal, the former president of the Romanian Academy, Eugen Simion:


    “With the advent of globalization, losing our culture means losing ourselves as a nation, and eventually we will disappear from the map of history altogether. This is why I proposed this day should coincide with Eminescus birthday, as Romanians regard him as their iconic poet, a symbol, a myth of their existence. Eminescu is hugely indebted to German culture, and in turn Romanian culture was under the influence of the German and French cultures”.



    Performances, symposiums and book launches were held to mark National Culture Day, many of which were organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute.





  • October 17, 2017 UPDATE

    October 17, 2017 UPDATE

    PESCO – The Country’s Supreme Defence Council on Tuesday approved Romania’s
    participation in the EU defence initiative. According to the presidential
    administration, Romania intends to participate with 10 projects as part of the
    Permanent Structured Cooperation programme (PESCO), aimed at strengthening
    common EU defence. The Council’s meeting was held two days between the European
    Council meeting in Brussels, whose agenda also includes matters relating to common defence.










    GOVERNMENT – The
    three new ministers proposed by the Social Democratic Party, the main party in
    the ruling coalition in Romania, were sworn in on Tuesday evening, in the
    presence of the head of state Klaus Iohannis. The three are Development
    Minister Paul Stanescu, Transportation Minister Felix Stroe and the Minister
    for European Funds Marius Nica. They have replaced Sevil Shhaideh, Rovana Plumb
    and Razvan Cuc, who have resigned. Shhaideh and Plumb are under investigation
    by the National Anticorruption Directorate in a case of corruption, and
    minister Cuc was accused of underperformance. The Alliance of Liberals and
    Democrats in Romania, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, has announced
    it will not withdraw support for its minister Viorel Ilie, Minister for Liaison
    with Parliament, ho is currently under
    investigation for influence peddling.






    EUROZONE – Romania must have a healthy
    economy in order to join the Eurozone in favourable conditions, said on Tuesday
    the Governor of the National Bank of Romania Mugur Isarescu. He also said that
    becoming one of the Eurozone countries was a strategic goal for Romania, even
    though Europe was faced with challenges regarding its structure and functioning. The
    head of the Central Bank also stated that Romania must be involved in
    establishing the way in which the European construction will look and function.








    ANTICORRUPTION – The head
    of the Anticorruption Directorate in Romania, Laura Codruta Kovesi, attended in
    Brussels on Tuesday a conference organised by the European Parliament. On the
    occasion, Kovesi stated that the prosecutors’ actions can be sustainable only
    if they are completed by preventive actions carried out by institutions with
    responsibilities in the field. She talked, among other things, about some of
    the characteristics of the Directorate and the results obtained by the
    institution in combating corruption, in the past 10 years. The Directorate is
    presented as one of the five best practices at the level of the EU, Kovesi also
    said. The statements were made at the conference titled Learning lesions from
    Romania: exchange of good practices between anticorruption authorities in
    Romania and Ukraine.




    IMMUNITY VOTE – The Romanian Chamber of Deputies has
    rejected, through secret voting, the request filed by the National
    Anticorruption Directorate to start the prosecution of the former minister
    delegate for European funds, Rovana Plumb. Only 99 deputies voted in favour
    of lifting her immunity, while the
    other 183 voted against. Plumb is
    accused of complicity to abuse of office while serving as minister for the
    environment and climate change, as part of a corruption case that also involves
    the former deputy prime minister Sevil Shhaideh. The National Anticorruption
    Directorate claims that, through the concerted action of persons holding public
    offices, parts of the Danube’s Belina Island and Pavel Branch were illegally
    transferred from state property to that of the Teleorman county and under the
    management of the Teleorman County Council before being leased, again
    illegally, to a private firm a few days later. Prosecutors argue that the
    property in question belongs to public domain and could not become the property
    of a county council through government order but only by law.










    CAR MAKING – The car industry
    in Romania, which accounts for a quarter of the country’s exports, has called
    for transparency from the government. The head of the Romanian-German Chamber
    of Commerce and Industry Dragos Anastasiu told a conference in Bucharest that
    insufficiently prepared fiscal and economic measures can damage the sector,
    with its almost 600 companies and around 200,000 employees. Government advisor
    Florin Vodita said the government has taken measures to stimulate innovation,
    research and development in the sector by exempting companies from paying profit
    tax in their first ten years of activity.



  • A new Government, a new programme

    A new Government, a new programme


    The political formula on the basis of which the new Tudose Cabinet has been formed by the ruling coalition in Romania, made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, is the same as the previous one. Also, 16 members of the former cabinet headed by Sorin Grindeanu, sacked last week under a no-confidence motion filed by his very own party, are also members of the current government. Grindeanu lost the office following accusations that he failed to implement the governing programme with which the Social Democratic Party won parliament election in December 2016 with 45% of the votes.



    Tudoses cabinet has been endorsed by only 275 MPs, by 20 votes less than the Grindeanu team, which could be read as a sign that not only the winners euphoria six months ago started to wear out, but also the cohesion of the parliamentary majority. The Prime Minister himself has stated that Romania does not need a relaxed government, but one that needs to keep alert at all times. He has assured parliamentarians that his objective is to make up for the delays in implementing the governing programme.



    Mihai Tudose: “I do not want to criticize what was before, but I understand there were some brakes involved. I was told to turn these brakes into a gas pedal, and that is what I am going to do.”



    The iron-fist of the governing coalition, the leader of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea, has too stated that the programme must be observed, no matter the political costs entailed, and that is why Grindeanu had to go:


    “There were mistakes in the governing process, but we have the strength to admit that. We will be more careful and we will make sure that the deadlines in the governing programme are observed.”



    The problem, however, as pundits have pointed out, is that the programme of the newly instated team is significantly different from the one that Grindeanu was supposed to implement. Several measures concerning pay rises in the public sector have been postponed and the introduction of new taxes and fees is also envisaged. The junior partner in the coalition, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, has announced through its spokesperson Varujan Vosganian that their support to the prime-minister is conditional.



    Varujan Vosganian: “If there are talks on redefining the flat tax by means of quotas re-designed below the existing ones, than we are willing to talk, but any changes in this flat tax translated into increasing the taxation level, no matter how we may call such a deviation, then the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats will not be a party to this.”



    Also conditional was the vote of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, as its leader Kelemen Hunor has pointed out:


    “This vote is not a blank cheque. We will not support the idea of a tax on turnover and we should also be explained what this solidarity tax is meant to stand for. The global income tax is not something to change the situation for the better either. “



    The right-wing opposition was quick to react sarcastically to the current situation. The MPs members of the Peoples Movement Party attended neither the plenary session, nor the voting, and the National Liberal Party voted against the new government and criticized the changes brought to the governing programme. Here is the Liberal MP Ben Oni Ardelean:


    “The National Liberal Party believes that proceeding like this, you are going to destroy the country. What you are doing now is throw away all Romanias chances.”



    On behalf of his party, the Save Romania Union, MP Cristian Seidler was also categorical:


    “Mr. Mihai Tudose, you and your colleagues in the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats have lost any legitimacy to rule this country.”



    Just like a tough principal facing a class of problematic students, president Klaus Iohannis has been extremely critical of the new ministers. “The country is facing a crisis because you were not able to govern it” the president said, blaming the government for changing sensitive elements of the governing program.



    He also called on the new ministers to put an end to what he described as a fiscal-budgetary hop-on, hop-off, as some ministers of the new cabinet have already started to raise controversy. Even before he was sworn in, the Finance Minister Ionut Misa announced the dissolution of the so-called 2nd pillar of the private pension fund. Soon after, though, the Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea termed the announcement as non-sense and Minister Misa took back what he had said earlier. However, the statements have already had a huge impact, causing trouble in the stock and forex markets.




  • June 27, 2017 UPDATE

    June 27, 2017 UPDATE


    Romanias Cabinet – The Social Democrat Mihai Tudose has been designated by President Klaus Iohannis to form the new government in Romania. The membership of the future Cabinet is to be validated on Wednesday by the Social Democratic Partys executive committee. After nominating Tudose as PM, the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis asked the parliamentary parties to urgently draft an agenda that should allow the finalization of parliamentary procedures this week. He argued that the current political crisis seriously affected Romanias economy and image. The Tudose cabinet will replace the Grindeanu government, which was removed following a no confidence motion filed by the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats.



    Cooperation – The Bulgarian President Rumen Radev will pay a formal visit to Romania on Wednesday and Thursday, when he will meet with his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis. The aim of his visit is to deepen political dialogue between Romania and Bulgaria on the main issues of common interest on the bilateral agenda, as well as other European and international issues. The talks will focus on economic relations and cooperation in such domains as energy and transports, in the context in which Romania is Bulgarias 3rd largest trade partner in the EU. The two presidents will also look into concrete ways of coordinating the promotion of common interests and targets within the EU. Bulgaria and Romania will hold the presidency of the European Council in the first half of 2018 and the first half of 2019 respectively. High on the agenda of talks are also cooperation within NATO and security challenges in the Black Sea area, the Eastern Neighbourhood and regional cooperation.



    Case closure – The file concerning the alleged rigging of the 2009 presidential election has been closed, following a decision by the Prosecutor Generals Office. The Office has decided that no element could be found leading to the assumption that fraud was attempted. The case had been opened in April, following statements made by the Romanian journalist and former political adviser Dan Andronic, who said that back then, heads of major state institutions, including the Romanian Intelligence Service and the Prosecutor Generals Office influenced the result of the voting to benefit Traian Basescu. We recall that in 2009, Traian Basescu won the second presidential term after a tight battle with Mircea Geoana. The 2009 presidential elections are also the object of a parliamentary investigation.



    King Mihai– The health condition of the former King of Romania, Mihai I (who ruled between 1940 – 1947) is fragile but stable, the Royal House of Romania has announced. Crown Princess Margareta of Romania and Prince Radu are on a family visit to Switzerland as of Monday. They will spend a few days with the king at his private residence. After undergoing cancer surgery, King Mihai I announced his withdrawal from public life on March 1, 2016. He also announced that his first born of his 5 daughters, Princess Margareta, who is the Crown Princess, would represent him and carry out all his public duties.



    Immigration – Some 90 Iraqi and Syrian citizens, including 30 children, were found by the Romanian border police at a crossing point on the border with Hungary. They were hiding in a truck registered in Turkey and were attempting to illegaly reach a state in the Shengen area. The Iraqi and Syrian citizens will be investigated for attempting to cross the border illegally.



    Cyber attack – The well-known Romanian internet security software company Bitdefender has announced that companies and institutions in Romania and in other countries in the region, including Russia and Ukraine, were affected by a large-scale cyber attack on Tuesday. According to Bitdefender, the program used by attackers, GoldenEye, encrypts users data and then asks for a ransom. Ukraines government, National Bank and biggest power companies all warned of cyber attacks on Tuesday. Also, the Russian oil giant Rosneft and steel producer Evraz confirmed they were hit too.



    Google – Google suffered a major blow on Tuesday after the European Commission fined the search giant a record 2.4 billion Euros for unfairly favouring some of its own services over those of rivals. As the EU official in charge of competition policy, Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said, Google abused its market dominance as a search engine by promoting its own comparison shopping service in its search results, and demoting those of competitors.



    Handball – Romanias national womens handball team is part of Group A at the World Championship hosted this year by Germany, alongside France, Spain, Slovakia, Angola and Paraguay. The Romanian squad, trained by the Spanish Ambros Martin, has qualified for the final tour, which is to be held in December. At the previous edition of the World Championship, in 2015, Romania won the bronze medal. Romania is the only country that has participated in all 23 editions of the World Championship.




  • Politicians and Amendments to Criminal Law

    Politicians and Amendments to Criminal Law

    Commenced on January 31st, the saga of the famous
    emergency decree 13, aimed at relaxing, in an arguable manner, the criminal
    legislation, thus favouring certain corrupt politicians, came to an end exactly
    three weeks after it begun. The decree was repealed after the MPs, irrespective
    of their political colour, overwhelmingly voted in favour of decree 14 on the
    abrogation of decree no.13. The move
    came against the large-scale anti-government protests that erupted on January 31st and haven’t
    stopped yet. Emergency decree 13 was an error, seriously undermining the
    country’s credibility, the head of the National Liberal Party Raluca Turcan has
    again stated:


    Fortunately,
    the abusive and non-transparent measure that enraged the entire country seems
    to have been wiped out. There is an irremediable evil though, an evil that we
    all know, namely Romania losing its credibility, the lack of trust in this
    government, the lack of predictability in the actions of this government.


    The MP Attila
    Korodi, member of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, has
    pointed out that criminal law must be amended in order to observe the
    Constitution, but this cannot be done through government decrees:

    It was a
    mistake last year, it’s a mistake now and it will always be a mistake.
    Presently, under the Romanian legislation the Constitutional Courts’ rulings
    aren’t transposed into law, they aren’t regulated. It is the responsibility of
    all the political forces in the Chamber of Deputies to make sure the criminal
    codes are drawn up so as to eliminate any ambiguity from the public space or in
    court rulings, ambiguities generated by the fact that the legislation is not
    complete.


    Dan Barna, a
    member of the Save Romania Union, believes though that something good may have
    come out of these events:

    If there were to find out something good
    in the abuse that we saw perpetrated on January 31st, that would be
    the fact that the idea of justice and law implementation in society has been
    brought to the forefront to a larger extent than any debates on the
    Constitution or any other laws could have done. Citizens of all walks of life are
    talking about these ordinances, which, all in all, is quite a positive
    element.


    From the ruling
    coalition, the Social-Democrat Ana Birchall has said she hopes the future
    discussions on criminal law will not allow justice to be politically
    instrumented.


    I believe that through the vote in the Chamber of Deputies a line
    can be drawn in this public discussion over the two decrees. The government’s
    stance has been expressed also through the vote today, namely in support of
    repealing decree 13 and I believe that constructive things will be taken into
    consideration in all public debates. I would also like to see that justice
    cannot become a battlefield with
    political stakes.


    We recall that
    Ana Birchall has been appointed interim Justice Minister to replace Florin
    Iordache who promoted the infamous decree 13 and stepped down a couple of days
    after its abrogation.

  • Support for the victims of last week’s earthquake in Italy

    Support for the victims of last week’s earthquake in Italy

    The agenda of the Romanian PMs visit to Italy includes meetings with the Romanian citizens who were wounded in the quake and with the Romanian families taking shelter in makeshift camps in the Amatrice area. The Romanian official will also attend, alongside the Italian President Sergio Mattarella and the PM Matteo Renzi, the state funerals organized in Italy in memory of the earthquake victims.



    The Romanian Government will help the Romanian citizens in Italy affected by last Wednesdays quake. The executive approved, in an emergency meeting, a first financial aid package announced by the PM Cioloş:



    “We grant emergency aid for the relatives of the people killed in the quake. We will also support the relatives of those Romanians who go to Italy to help the people affected by the catastrophe. We have thought of specific aid for the children left without parents. The Romanian minister delegate for the relation with the Romanians Worldwide, Maria Ligor, is already in Italy. She has met with the hospitalized Romanians and with the representatives of the local authorities.



    The orphaned Romanian children will receive 6,000 Euros. The families of the victims will be granted 1,000 Euros while the families whose houses were destroyed to an extent of more than 50% will receive 10,000 Euros. Also 1,000 Euros will go to those who go to Italy to help the surviving members of the affected families. According to the authorities, aid is granted upon request. The people entitled to receiving aid will have to file a request with the Romanian diplomatic and consular missions in Italy and with the county payment and social inspection agencies in Romania, respectively.



    PM Cioloş also intends to make an analysis of Romanias reaction capacity in case of a similar earthquake. He asked the authorities to draft a document in this regard, in two weeks time. The issue of consolidating the dangerous or unsafe buildings in Romania, most of which are located in downtown Bucharest, has been frequently approached by the media. These buildings were erected tens of years ago according to norms that are no longer compatible with the seismic situation of the area. The authorities admit that the issue of consolidating dangerous buildings in Romania has been protracted for years. The situation is due, to a large extent, to the owners reticence to temporarily leave their homes to allow for consolidation works.



    The Government is considering draft laws meant to change this situation. For the time being, the Government has modified the organization regulations of the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations and has set up 4 new structures with prerogatives in training the operative personnel and preparing the population for emergency situations.


    (Translated by L. Simion)

  • Public office reform, a Government priority

    Public office reform, a Government priority

    On Wednesday the Romanian Government announced fresh measures aimed at reducing bureaucracy and passed a Strategy for public office development for the period 2016-2020. The Strategy resumes the principles and lines of action included in a more extensive strategy, namely the Strategy for the Consolidation of Public Administration for 2014-2020. The measures stipulated in this document are aimed at rendering central and local administration more effective, preventing corruption and reinstating citizens’ trust in the state institutions.



    Deputy PM Vasile Dancu has said that a series of government orders aimed at cutting red tape in general and in the local administration in particular will be issued in a next few days. Also, measures have been taken to eliminate overregulations, which create the impression of corrupted administration. The general opinion at present is that there is excessive bureaucracy in Romania and that the administration has excessive powers. In spite of the fact that the Government has so far taken a series of measures to cut red tape, they still seem insufficient. According to Vasile Dancu, implementing the Strategy for public office development is essential for the modernization of the Romanian state.



    According to the Deputy PM, the Government has started “from the fact that the Romanian state has always been going through crises periods in sectors like education or health, crises that are directly linked to the relation with the citizens. Therefore a modernization of the state is needed, to reinstate people’s trust in the state institutions. There is a high stake here, as where there is insufficient trust in the Romanian state, democracy is at risk.”



    The Government strategy does not include any redundancies before thorough analyses so as not to repeat mistakes of the past when a series of austerity measures were implemented, which generated administrative dysfunctions. As for the salary level, the Romanian public administration is believed not to have a decent one. The new strategy, however, gives institution managers the power to grant a part of the salary based on efficiency. The Government also wants to reskill public servants and is now assessing the idea of a single national exam for the people willing to work in public institutions.



    As regards the ethics of integrity and preventing corruption in administration, the document provides for a decrease by at least 30% in the total number of integrity incidents by 2020. Rendering transparent the information of public interest, in sectors like public procurement and investment in particular is also stipulated in the Strategy. Moreover, the role and mandate of the National Union of Civil Servants will be clarified and a national IT system will be rendered operational by the end of next year to show the occupancy rate in public administration for all categories of jobs.

  • July 19, 2016

    July 19, 2016

    The battle against corruption is not only the responsibility of the state institutions but of each and every Romanian. The statement has been made today by the Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos, who launched a National Anti-Corruption Strategy, about which he says is not optional. In his opinion, this Strategy will prove that Romania does not longer need the EU’s Cooperation and Verification Mechanism currently in place for Romania, as the Romanian society has recovered. The National Anti-Corruption Strategy is a strategic vision for the medium-term, offering the main lines of action with a view to promoting integrity and good governance at the level of public institutions.




    The wave of terrorist attacks inside the European Union lately proves once more the need to consolidate European security both inside the union and at its external borders, Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu said at a Foreign Affairs Council meeting on Monday in Brussels. Comanescu also mentioned the important contribution that Romania brings in this respect, including to securing the Schengen area. The Romanian official conveyed his condolences for the victims of the attack in Nice and thanked the French authorities for their support in identifying the Romanian citizens affected by the attacks. As for Turkey, Comanescu highlighted the importance of this country as a vital NATO member and a EU partner. At the same time, Minister Comanescu emphasised the need for the democratic institutions and the human rights and liberties to be observed in this country.




    The French Government, strongly criticised after the attack in Nice for its anti-terrorist policy, is getting ready for a fierce parliamentary debate scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday, regarding an extension of the state of emergency, France Presse reports. On July 14 as many as 84 people were killed and over 200 were injured, including four Romanian citizens. Two of them, mother and son, are in a serious but stabile condition while the father is still missing. A crisis cell has been set up at the Romanian Foreign Ministry, which is in permanent contact with the French authorities.




    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will approve any decision of the country’s Parliament as regards the death penalty. He has also said that a decision regarding the reintroduction of the death penalty, abolished in 2004, cannot be delayed and that the Government is to discuss the matter with the opposition parties. In its turn, the EU has warned that the reintroduction of the death penalty will block Ankara’s path towards accession. On the other hand, Washington has called on Ankara not to go too far in its attempt to bring to justice the people guilty of the failed coup. Almost eight thousand military and magistrates have been arrested and around nine thousand policemen, gendarmes and public servants have been dismissed following the recent coup in Turkey.




    Four people were injured by a teenage Afghan refugee who was apparently sympathetic to Islamic State and used an axe and knife to attack passengers on a train in southern Germany before he was shot dead by police. Islamic State claims the attacker is one of its members. Germany has so far escaped the kind of large-scale jihadist attacks seen in the southern French city of Nice last week. Over 1 million refugees entered Germany last year alone.



    (Translated by Elena Enache)





  • Applications for parental leave and child raising allowance, simplified

    Applications for parental leave and child raising allowance, simplified

    The Bucharest Government has taken some measures regarding people who plan to become or have recently become parents. The Government has simplified the procedure for granting parental leave and the child raising allowance. The new regulations recently endorsed by Parliament will be enforced as of July 1st. For about 140 thousand parents, the child raising allowance will be recalculated automatically without additional documents being needed on their part. Also, people who initially opted for just a 1-year parental leave can now extend this period by another year.



    Labour Minister Dragos Paslaru: “We now have one form that can be filled in for both the child raising allowance and the child subsidy, and, if that’s the case, for the extension of the parental leave. We also have several ways of supplying the required documents to the authorities: by going to the office of the National Agency for Social Inspection and Payments, by post and by email, at the addresses that will soon be announced.”



    The Labor Ministry will also draw up a guide aimed at helping parents who want to apply for the child raising allowance. The document will be posted on the labor Ministry’s website and on the Internet pages of the National Agency for Social Inspection and Payments and of the relevant county institutions. According to Labor Ministry estimates, implementing the new regulations will require an additional amount of 50 million euros from the state budget. Also, around 78 thousand people who are currently getting the minimum monthly child raising allowance, will see it increased from 139 euros to 230 euros.



    According to Labor Ministry data, the number of parents receiving a child raising allowance went down by 0.9% in the first nine months of last year, following a drop in the birth rate. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the number of newborn babies has dropped constantly, with Romania ranking among the last countries in the world in terms of birth rate. If 25 years ago over 30 thousand children were born every year, the number went down by half in the last few years, according to the National Statistics Institute. Sociologists say that the reason for this is the advanced age at which Romanians choose to get married and the fact that having a child is not a priority anymore.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • New regulations on public sector salaries

    New regulations on public sector salaries

    More than 650,000 public sector employees will see their salaries rise starting in September, following a government ordinance on unitary pay in the public sector. Thus, employees occupying the same position and having the same qualifications will now also have the same salaries.



    Labour minister Dragos Paslaru explains: “Equal payment for equal work — this is the key principle we have applied, given that people with the same position and seniority working in the same office were paid differently because of chaotic legal provisions adopted in the past. We aim to address this situation across the entire public administration in Romania, in particular the central and local administration.”



    Healthcare employees will see the biggest rises, because it is in this area that the biggest discrepancies have existed. Labour minister Dragos Paslaru: “There are major dysfunctionalities in the healthcare sector as far as salaries are concerned. We had to rethink the payment scheme to make sure that doctors with the same position and seniority have the same basic salaries, regardless of where they work across the country. We’re also working on a similar payment scheme for the education sector.”



    This new piece of legislation will cost the budget around 200 million euros this year and some 580 million euros in 2017. Trade unions in the education system have demanded bigger salary adjustments, but the government says it doesn’t have the money. As a result, teachers did not support the proposal of the labour ministry. Most of their dissatisfaction is not related to the content of the government ordinance itself, but the fact that the increases do not apply to more categories of employees. However, the ordinance has been received well by the trade unions forming part of Alfa Cartel. The president of this confederation Bogdan Hossu says the increase is the first step and that he expects the new government coming to power after the legislative elections this autumn to continue raising salaries.



    Bogdan Hossu: “We have to take into account the fact that the new government will have the possibility, if it so wishes, to increase this allowance, which, I must emphasise, is within the economic growth rate.”


    The government ordinance on public sector salaries has been adopted after several rounds of talks with trade unions and has even led to the resignation of the previous labour minister Ana Costea.



    (Translated by Cristina Mateescu)

  • New Ministers in the Romanian Government

    New Ministers in the Romanian Government

    Dacian Ciolos’s
    technocratic Government has this week suffered a new loss. After the
    resignations of the Labour Minister Ana Costea and of the Minister for European
    Funds Aura Raducu, it was time for Vlad Alexandrescu to leave the Government.
    On Tuesday, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos removed him from the office of Culture
    Minister. A university professor and former Ambassador of Romania to
    Luxembourg, Vlad Alexandrescu was criticized for the way he handled a dispute
    at the National Opera in Bucharest. Alexandrescu changed three managers in just
    one month, without managing however to ease tensions at the Opera.

    Dacian
    Ciolos believes that a Minister’s response to a crisis situation reflects his
    ability to carry out his mandate. Vlad Alexandrescu was equally accused of
    having generated controversies by first announcing his resignation, then
    stating he would only leave if Prime Minister Ciolos sacked him. In a letter
    that reached the press, Vlad Alexandrescu claimed that some members of the
    Government had tried to intimidate him and that the decisions he made in six
    months of office did not sit well with various interest groups.

    One of the
    many prestigious figures in the field of culture who voiced support for Vlad
    Alexandrescu was Andrei Plesu, himself a former Culture Minister. In an article
    on what a Romanian Minister should be like, Andrei Plesu outlined
    Alexandrescu’s merits. Among others, he saved important national heritage
    monuments, through direct intervention. He launched a public subscription
    campaign for the procurement of the Wisdom of the Earth, a masterpiece by the
    famous Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi. Last but not least, he managed to
    include Rosia Montana on UNESCO’s World Heritage tentative list, thus thwarting
    any further attempts at turning this century-old settlement in central Romania
    into a huge gold mining operation.

    Andrei Plesu did not go too far in singing
    Alexandrescu’s praises, saying the former Minister did make mistakes and caused
    a lot of inconvenience by having too much initiative. Andrei Plesu believes
    that technocrats are, in theory at least, more vulnerable than
    politically-appointed ministers. The party usually nominates them, protects
    them and only if they commit serious errors, withdraws them. Without
    Parliament’s support, Dacian Ciolos’s technocratic Government is now open to
    criticism for what it is trying to achieve, despite its uncertain position,
    Andrei Plesu also argues.

    The Government is prevented from taking too much
    action but criticized for taking too little. Other Ministers who are now in the
    crosshairs for their under par performance are the Health Minister Patriciu
    Achimas Cadariu, who failed to deal with the many flaws in the healthcare
    system, as well as the Agriculture Minister Achim Irimescu, whose only
    achievement in the six months since he took office was to be at the center of
    two scandals. Many voices claim the two are very likely next on the list of
    ministers to be given the sack.

  • February 18, 2016 UPDATE

    February 18, 2016 UPDATE

    EU leaders met on Thursday in Brussels for a two-day crucial summit, trying to reach a compromise to keep Britain in the European Union. Britains demands include changes in the field of social protection, political integration and financial regulations. Among others, London wishes to introduce a 4-year ban on in-work benefits for foreign workers and limit the level of benefits to those payable in the migrants country of origin unless their children reside in the UK. Romania is represented at the summit by president Klaus Iohannis, who says his country stands for finding a suitable solution that meets Britains expectations and keeps it in the European Union. At the same time, he said this solution must be in keeping with the EU treaties, respecting the Unions fundamental values and principles and the European legislation. The EU summit will also tackle migration and the distribution of refugees among member states.




    A group of doctors from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control travelled to Romania on Thursday to help find the cause of an infection that developed in a number of children from Arges county, in the south. Romania has activated the European common support mechanism more than a week after the first cases of infants with serious digestive infections, followed by major complications, were reported. The authorities say they will expand the epidemiological inquiry in Arges to test the animals in the areas where the children live. Three infants have died and three others are in intensive care. Meanwhile, the case has reached Parliament, with the Social Democratic Party saying it might call for a no-confidence vote against the health minister Patriciu Achimas Cadariu.





    The Romanian government has launched a public debate on its proposed integrated package to fight poverty, which entails 47 different measures for all age categories. The programme aims to provide assistance for the following four years to more than 1 million Romanians living under the poverty line, many of whom are children and old people. The measures include raising employment levels for people between the age of 20 and 64 from 66% in 2014 to 70% in 2020 and reducing by at least 580,000 the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion by 2020. The anti-poverty package also entails a series of measures to help families such as: home improvement loans, preventing the separation of children from their families and incentives for day workers. All these goals are in line with the Europe 2020 Strategy.




    Illegal migration was the biggest challenge for Romania and the European Union in 2015, said the head of the Romanian General Immigration Inspectorate Viorel Vasile in a review of the inspectorates activity last year. He says 43% of the asylum applications registered in Romania come from Syrian nationals. 2,300 controls were carried out in 2015, with expatriation orders being issued for more than 2,000 foreign citizens. 189 of them were escorted out of the country, while 258 were taken into public custody. Currently, there are 104,000 foreign citizens in Romania.






    The humanitarian aid that Romania has pledged to offer the neighbouring Republic of Moldova stands at 3.7 million euros, the Government’s spokesman, Dan Suciu, announced on Thursday. The aid will consist in food for vulnerable people and heavy fuel oil to supplement Moldovas reserves in case its natural gas supply is disconnected. The announcement was made one day after the Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti’s visit to Bucharest.

  • Anti-poverty measures

    Anti-poverty measures

    The government in Bucharest on Wednesday launched an anti-poverty programme worth over 1 billion euros, to be financed by the state budget and European funds, the government’s spokesman Dan Suciu has announced. The package is split into different age categories and targets all persons at risk of poverty. Prime minister Dacian Ciolos warned that many people in Romania are below the poverty line, including 1.7 million children, especially in the rural areas. He recalled that Romania does have a national anti-poverty strategy, but something needs to be done to implement it. He said the programme must be carried out in stages to support people at risk of poverty from birth until end of life.



    Dacian Ciolos: “Apart from support for medical screening, we must ensure that all new-born children have access to vaccination and receive an identity. Our goal when it comes to children of pre-school age is to provide them with school supplies, clothing and vitamin supplements.”



    The prime minister also said that plans are under way to expand existing programmes for school-age children with the help of European funds, and to develop assistance programmes for young people who dropped out of school early, to resume their education or find a job. As for people over 65, here’s what the government has in mind.



    Dacian Ciolos: “For older people we are working on a programme called ‘the grandparents of the community’ which would allow older people to work as child minders within an organised network.”



    Other projects aimed at people over the age of 65 include the creation of multifunctional community centres, providing guarantees for older employees and funding home care programmes for the elderly. The government’s planned anti-poverty package also entails programmes aimed at preventing abandonment of infants in hospitals, providing needy families with social housing and assistance to improve their homes, preventing the separation of children from their families, helping day workers and guaranteeing micro-loans at lower interest rates for entrepreneurs from disadvantaged environments.



    The package, which entails 47 different measures, will be presented in greater detail next week before being discussed with NGOs, the academic community, representatives of local authorities and the potential beneficiaries of these programmes.



    (Translated by Cristina Mateescu)

  • Priorities of the New Budget Bill

    Priorities of the New Budget Bill

    For the technocrats making up the Ciolos cabinet, the first cabinet with no political affiliation in Romania’s post-communist history, drawing up the 2016 state budget has not been an easy task. And neither will be for them to keep the deficit at maximum 3% of the GDP, as established at EU level. To say nothing that that target will have to be maintained against the background of an increase in public sector salaries by 10 to up to 25% and fiscal relaxation, which could favour businesses on the long run but might also prove risky on the short run.



    On the other hand, the largest parliamentary parties, the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party, the only ones that could truly oppose the budget bill have no interest in challenging a government that offers them a one-year break, which is exactly what they need in an election year. The quick pace at which the 2016 state budget nears its adoption proves that no one plans to challenge it. On Monday the budget bill was submitted to Parliament with very few amendments. Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos made it a point to assure the MPs that the government would abide by important provisions related to fiscal relaxation and pay rises for state employees. He recalled that the priority sectors considered when drawing up the budget were education, healthcare, research, defense and investment.



    Dacian Ciolos: “The healthcare system will be allocated an extra 700 million euros, the education system an extra 500 million euros and research an extra 110 million euros. Investment in research will go up by around 23% in 2016 because we believe that research is also instrumental to a sustainable economic recovery.”



    Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos also said he was aware that the Government had to decide, by year-end, whether the minimum salary should be maintained at the current level of 230 euros or should go up to 260 euros. Ciolos explained that raising the minimum salary, something that the Social Democrats insisted on, could not be done before an impact study was conducted.



    Dacian Ciolos: “What I’m particularly concerned about is not the impact on the state budget, which is minimum after the state employees’ salaries have already been raised by 10%, but on several sectors with a small level of profit. I think we should carefully consider the possible impact of our decisions on those sectors.”



    The National Union of Romanian Employers has announced they support the increase in the minimum salary, on condition that the taxes and duties paid by companies to be calculated based on the current level of the minimum salary.



    (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • Romania’s 2016 Budget

    Romania’s 2016 Budget

    On Wednesday, the Romanian Government passed the bills on the state budget and social security budget for 2016. The bills were submitted to Parliament for debate and endorsement under an emergency procedure. According to Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos, the budget was built within certain constraints imposed by the legislation adopted by Parliament, which triggered an increase in expenditure. He has called on Parliament to take the matter seriously and to be reasonable when discussing the budget, stressing that those who wish to bring amendments should do that by also indicating the source of financing.



    Health, education, defense and investment are priorities in 2016, and therefore will get the biggest shares of the budget next year, while the Ministries of Labor and Transport will get less. The budget was built on the basis of a deficit of maximum 3% of the GDP, as established at EU level, and an economic growth rate estimated at 4.1%. Revenues to the budget will be by 800 million Euros higher next year while expenditures will grow by 2.9 billion Euros, to also cover the fiscal relaxation measures already approved by Parliament.



    The budget also provides for funds to increase the pension point by 5% and also for all the salary increases already approved this year, but not for additional ones. The minimum salary will not grow either, at least for the time being, until an impact study is conducted. This provision and the fact that the local communities will not get the requested amounts either, is a matter of discontent for the Social Democrats, who, nevertheless, have stated they will support the budget bill.



    Leader of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea: “Theoretically speaking, we have no reason to vote against, but we are trying to find solutions for this budget, once turned into law, to be better than the bill proposed by the Government. This is Parliament’s role. It is true that the amounts earmarked to balance the local budgets will be lower than the wishes and needs of the local communities and we will see whether we are able to find, in Parliament, solutions to grow these amounts.”



    In turn, the co-president of the National Liberal Party, Alina Gorghiu, said: “The conditions that the National Liberal Party laid down have been met by the Ciolos Government. We are talking about investments, which have grown from 33 to 37 billion lei. Public investments are those that generate added value to the economy and create jobs. We also have more money for education, health and also for the army.”



    Debates on the 2016 draft budget start on Friday, in Parliament’s expert committees, and the final voting will be held in Parliament’s plenary sitting next Wednesday.



    (Translated by Mihaela Ignatescu / Edited by Elena Enache)