Radio România Internațional

Tag: salaries

  • The government and trade unions reach agreement

    The government and trade unions reach agreement

    After talks between the government and trade unions, the only thing we know for sure is that the strike planned for Friday will no longer be held. Spontaneous protests erupted in April in hospitals around the country. On Monday this week, trade unions also staged a 2-hour warning strike.



    The protests were the result of reforms initiated by the government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. They promised that salary increases would be so generous that the 15,700 Romanian doctors who are now working abroad will want to come back. Indeed, doctors salaries have increased spectacularly, from several hundred to several thousand euros. Nurses salaries have also benefited from generous increases.



    However, the ministrys decision to cap bonuses to 30% of the basic salary has led to severe drops in the incomes of orderlies, biologists and pharmacists. The healthcare minister Sorina Pintea now says the government will again amend the law on public sector salaries. The changes will only cover the way in which bonuses are granted, the labour minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu has pointed out. She says on-duty time performed by doctors and nurses will no longer be subject to the 30% cap. The positions of midwife and healthcare assistant will be considered equivalent to that of nurses. Specialised hospitals and certain ambulance services will be able to supplement their staffs bonuses in certain situations. The agreement between the government and trade unions also provides that all employees who lost money as a result of the new salary law will be reimbursed. Talks will also resume on the collective employment contract.



    Leonard Barascu, the leader of SANITAS, the most influential trade union in the sector, said the agreement has put an end to the labour conflict. Commentators say, however, that this does not heal the most acute problems in the system: old hospitals with precarious equipment and full of bacteria, shortages of sometimes essential medicine, insufficient medical staff and still unmotivated, if not downright hostile to patients, despite the generous pay rise.



    Patients perception is relevant in this sense. According to a European Commission report, almost 60% of the Romanians who say they are affected by corruption say this phenomenon is most likely to occur in the public healthcare system. The head of the National Anticoruption Directorate Laura Codruta Kovesi confirms that medical services, hospital funding and staff employment and promotion are some of the areas most affected by corruption. Kovesi also gave a few examples: the going bribe is 1,500 euros for a job as an orderly, 2,500 euros for a nurse and 1,000 to drive the ambulance car. Her examples provide support for the voices who say the problem is not that the system is under-funded, but that too much money is lost because of corruption.


    (translated by: Cristina Mateescu)

  • Controversies surrounding the unitary pay law

    Controversies surrounding the unitary pay law

    The National Liberal Party (PNL), the main opposition party in Romania, has decided to table a simple motion against Labor Minister Olguta Vasilescu for reasons that are mainly related to the salary system. The Liberals are also criticizing the transfer of the payment of social security contributions from employers to employees, a measure that has been in force since the beginning of the year, and claim that this measure has only added to the confusion already existing in the Romanian salary and fiscal systems.



    “Whether they are magistrates, IT staff, teachers, medical doctors or what we call ‘luxury’ public employees, which the Labor Minister has recently mentioned – all these categories will see their salaries cut, because nobody bothered to make an impact study to see what the transfer of social security contributions entails, thats why we are in this situation,” the Liberals said, referring to the fact that salaries are decreasing for several hundred thousand Romanians, in spite of their expected increase, stipulated in the governing programme.



    The employees’ net salaries will go down in several sectors, such as healthcare, culture, police and justice, trade union leaders also warn. Moreover, the leader of the SANITAS trade union federation representing healthcare workers, Viorel Husanu, has said that salaries will decrease in monoprofile hospitals, such as psychiatry, tuberculosis and infectious diseases, and will only increase for physicians, and even in their case the growth is smaller than promised.



    Operative policemen, around 8,000 of them, will also see a decrease in net salaries of around 85 euros, according to the head of the Policemen’s National Trade Union, Dumitru Coarna, according to whom the living standard will go down by 5% to10%. There are unsatisfied employees in the private sector as well, where not all employers have signed addendums to their labor contracts that should stipulate an increase in gross salaries so as decreases in net salaries should be avoided.



    Moreover, 3% of the public system employees have smaller salaries following the enforcement of the law on the salary scheme for the staff paid from public funds. According to Minister Olguta Vasilescu, the purpose of this law has been to balance the public salary system and eliminate major discrepancies, such as different salaries for the same job. There are also happy Romanians, such as the parliament members, whose salaries went up by around 10% starting in February, following an increase in the minimum salary to around 410 euros, as of January 1st.

  • The Year in Review (II)

    The Year in Review (II)

    Two governments, the same ruling coalition 2017 was the year when the government headed by Sorin Grindeanu was installed and also the year when he was sacked following a no confidence vote. Oddly enough, the same majority that put him in the prime minister post, namely, the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (PSD-ALDE), was the one that tabled the censure motion. Sorin Grindeanu was sacked for political disobedience to the Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea. It was Mihai Tudose that replaced Grindeanu, in the second half of the year. “I’m expecting you to do everything in your power to support an independent justice system in Romania”, President Klaus Iohannis told the government last January. The new leftist Government inaugurated its mandate with the infamous Ordinance 13 that partially decriminalized the abuse of office, which would have triggered the pardoning of a number of politicians guilty of various offenses. This would have also been the case for Liviu Dragnea. However, the largest post-communist protests, in support of justice and against PSD followed, forcing the government to withdraw the emergency decree and prompting the resignation of its initiator, justice minister Florin Iordache. In spite of the fact that Sorin Grindeanu was replaced with Mihai Tudose, the battle for changing the justice laws continued and was taken over by Parliament, with the same Florin Iordache in the forefront. Shortly before the winter holidays, the PSD-ALDE majority, little impressed by the almost daily protests, passed, with the support of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), a package of laws regarding the status of magistrates, the judicial organization and organization of the Higher Council of Magistracy (CSM). This is, perhaps, the quickest and most controversial legislative process in the history of the Romanian Parliament. Through this action, the Power neutralized the right-of-center Opposition and ignored the concerns voiced by the country’s foreign partners as well as the criticism leveled against it by the judicial institutions and the magistrates’ associations. In an unprecedented move, judges in Bucharest and other Romanian cities protested in front of tribunals. Embassies of seven EU states voiced their concern at the risk of the new laws affecting the independence of the judiciary and the battle against corruption. Also, some of these laws were challenged as unconstitutional by the High Court of Cassation and Justice and by the National Liberal Party (PNL). PNL, UDMR, The most controversial stipulations refer to the magistrates’ responsibility in case of judicial errors, to limiting the role of the country’s president in appointing the Prosecutor General and the heads of the main prosecutor’s offices and the setting up of a special division for the investigation of magistrates. The Power continues to defend these laws, saying they bring order to the justice system and leave less room for abuse.


    Salaries, economy and taxation


    Promised by the Social democratic Party (PSD) in the election campaign of 2016, the unitary pay law in the public system became reality by mid-2017. Promoted by its initiators as a means to put order in a salary system that dominated the public sector years on end, the law was criticized, however, by some trade unions, for failing to reach one of its main purposes, namely that of bridging the gap between the salaries of public servants. The law also provided for significant pay rises in the public system.



    The risk of major state budget imbalances was big, so the government came up with the solution of transferring from employers to employees the responsibility of paying most of the social security contributions. As a result, the civil servants’ real salaries go up by very little, if any, while those of the private sector employees end up going down, unless employers increase gross salaries to cover the contributions’ increase. Except for the ruling coalition, everybody, from employees to employers, is criticizing the so-called fiscal revolution.



    Mayors have their share of discontent, as the new fiscal code stipulates smaller income taxes, which results in fewer funds for local budgets. The debate around the pay law and fiscal changes overlaps a more comprehensive one, regarding the 6% economic growth that makes Romania number one in the EU in this respect. Experts, however, fear that an economic advance generated mostly by consumption of imported goods is unhealthy and that it should be supported by public investment.



    The death of King Michael I


    December 5, 2017 was the day when Romania’s last sovereign, King Michael I, died in Switzerland aged 96. The coffin was flown to Romania and, on December 16, King Michael was laid to rest in Curtea de Arges, in the royal necropolis at the Medieval Christian Orthodox church there. At final rest there are also his wife, Queen Anne, who passed away in 2016, as well as his three predecessors, Carol I, Ferdinand, and Carol II.



    King Michael’s funerals were attended by royal figures, heads of state and government and foreign politicians. The late king was paid homage to by thousands of people, in an emotional show of respect for his extraordinary personality. Spectators, against their will, of the public show displayed by an immoral and incompetent political class, Romanians understood that, with King Michael’s death, Romania’s reserve of dignity decreased dramatically, which makes the sovereign’s death irretrievable.



    By way of conclusion


    2017 was a complicated year. The leftist power ruled the country on behalf of a majority, who is now silent, who had given it their vote in 2016 and whom it did not hesitate to invoke every time the measures it promoted, especially the ones regarding the justice laws, were contested vehemently in the street by the Opposition and the President, by relevant institutions and by Romania’s main partners. Independent commentators emphasised again, in 2017, the political majority’s total lack of transparency in passing their laws.



    The rude and offending behaviour became an informal legal instrument in 2017, a year when Parliament was the least credible and most unpopular state institution. 2018 does not look like an easy year either. The same commentators anticipate that, after having amended the justice laws in the sense of imposing political control over the justice system, the Power will try to operate changes in the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, something that will make the battle against offenders much less effective. Will 2018 be the year of a Romania without justice? Probably not. It will surely be, however, Romania’s first year without its King. (Translated by Elena Enache)


  • 19.12.2017 (mise à jour)

    19.12.2017 (mise à jour)

    Justice – Le Sénat de Bucarest a approuvé mardi, en sa qualité de chambre décisionnelle, la proposition législative de modification de la Loi visant le statut des juges et des procureurs, en l’absence des représentants de l’opposition (formée du Parti National Libéral, de l’Union Sauvez la Roumanie et du Parti du Mouvement Populaire), qui ont quitté la salle. Plusieurs amendements rejetés par la Chambre des Députés et par la Commission parlementaire spéciale chargée d’examiner les lois de la Justice ont été quand même adoptés par le Sénat, sur proposition du Parti Social Démocrate. L’amendement le plus important est lié à l’erreur judiciaire qui attire la responsabilité des juges et des procureurs au cas où ceux-ci ont fait preuve de mauvaise foi ou de grave négligence dans l’exercice de leur fonction. Par conséquent, l’Etat sera obligé de sanctionner le magistrat qui a commis une erreur judiciaire. L’opposition a fait savoir qu’elle contesterait auprès de la Cour Constitutionnelle le projet de loi visant le statut des juges et des procureurs adopté par le Sénat. Mardi encore, les parlementaires roumains ont continué les débats sur le second projet important du paquet des modifications des lois de la justice, à savoir celui qui vise l’organisation judiciaire ainsi que celui qui porte régit le fonctionnement du Conseil Supérieur de la Magistrature. En même temps, des centaines de magistrats se sont rassemblés devant les tribunaux de Bucarest et de plusieurs grandes villes à travers le pays, en signe de protestation contre les modifications que la coalition au pouvoir envisage d’apporter aux lois de la Justice, un processus qu’ils considèrent comme dépourvu de transparence.

    Sondage d’opinion – Plus de 85% des hommes d’affaires de Roumanie sont contre le transfert des contributions sociales à la charge des salariés à compter du 1er janvier 2018, fait savoir un sondage d’opinion commandé par le Conseil de PME. 60% des personnes interviewées ont mentionné s’être heurtées à des difficultés majeures dans la négociation ou la décision sur la manière dont sera opéré le transfert. Pour sa part, Ovidiu Nicolescu, le président d’honneur du Conseil des PME a averti que les salaires nets de nombreux employés allaient baisser l’année prochaine. L’enquête a été réalisée entre le 12 et le 18 décembre auprès de 328 hommes d’affaires.

    Budget – Le Parlement de Bucarest a poursuivi les débats du projet de budget de l’Etat 2018. Les sénateurs et députés doivent examiner aujourd’hui les annexes, après l’adoption lundi du projet. Ont également été adoptées les enveloppes destinées aux quatre principaux ordonnateurs de crédits, à savoir l’Administration présidentielle, le Sénat, la Chambre des députés et le Secrétariat général du gouvernement. Le budget de l’Etat de la Roumanie pour l’année prochaine repose sur une croissance économique de 5,5%, sur un taux de change moyen de 4,55 lei pour un euro, un salaire mensuel moyen de 2.614 lei (565 euros) et sur un déficit du budget estimé à 2,97% du PIB. En 2018, les domaines prioritaires seront la Santé, l’Education et l’Infrastructure. L’opposition parlementaire de droite a critiqué les mesures de la coalition au pouvoir, considérant que cette construction budgétaire risque d’accroître la dette publique.

    Météo – Dans les 24 prochaines heures, il fera plutôt froid en Roumanie. Le ciel sera couvert et l’on attend de la neige dans le nord-ouest, le nord et le centre du pays. Les températures maximales iront de -3 à 4 degrés.

  • Public education salaries, under review

    Public education salaries, under review

    The salaries of public education staff would be paid, starting in 2018, from the state budget via the Education Ministry, instead of city halls, under a new bill endorsed on Tuesday by the lower chamber of the Romanian Parliament.



    The bill also stipulates that the payment of outstanding salary amounts awarded in court to some of the public education employees would be spread out over 5 years. The chairperson of the Education Committee, the Social Democratic Senator Camelia Gavrila, explained:



    Camelia Gavrila: “The bill essentially transfers the funding of public education salaries to the Education Ministry, which will break down the amounts to county inspectorates and further on to schools, precisely because so far there have been so many delays, difficulties and other problems which have nothing to do with the teaching process. Another aspect regulated by this bill is the payment of the outstanding amounts claimed by the teaching staff and trade unions.”


    The National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union in opposition voted against the bill. The Liberal Deputy Raluca Turcan argues that the measure comes against the principle of public education autonomy and decentralization, and that the payment of overdue salaries is actually postponed.



    Raluca Turcan: “Basically, the mayors and other public authority decision-makers in charge with financing school infrastructure are left with the money, but without the smallest tool to monitor school management.”



    Since 2007, when it joined the European Union, Romania has been steadily losing its teachers. This is because they are not properly paid at home, which makes the teaching profession rather unattractive both for top specialists and for youth with a calling for this field. From primary schools to universities, Romanian public education units are struggling with an acute shortage of staff, and they see their teachers leave not only for foreign countries, but also for private schools in Romania, which pay them as much as 5 times more.



    Over the past few years, successive governments have tried, and largely failed, to address the situation, resorting to anything from pay raise promises to professional and logistic facilities.



    Meanwhile, according to a survey recently posted for public debate by the Education Ministry, more than half of Romania’s students go to either overcrowded, or underused schools. Nearly 30% of the schools in Romania lack indoor toilets, and more than 40% of them are run in buildings in high earthquake risk areas.



    The Education Ministry intends to upgrade the relevant infrastructure, and to build or revamp campuses. The Ministry has also launched a public debate on the issue of homework, with a view to addressing some dysfunctions. Teaching staff, parents and students are invited to express their views on this issue, online by November 20th.


  • October 9, 2017

    October 9, 2017

    NATO — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has said on Monday, at the autumn session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Bucharest, that Romania will continue to be a responsible NATO ally. Iohannis has also said that Romania became a relevant contributor to the security of the region and mentioned the country’s having allotted 2% of its GDP to defense this year, which will continue to do for the next 10 years. In his turn, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that the Alliance is concerned with Russia’s military advance and its lack of transparency. Stoltenbeg has mentioned however that NATO has no intention to isolate Russia.




    CATALONIA — Spain’s Prime Minster Mariano Rajoy has said that his country will not be divided, because its national unity will be defended. In an interview with the German daily Die Welt, Rajoy has said he will do everything that he can, in keeping with the country’s laws, to prevent Catalonia from unilaterally declaring independence. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Barcelona on Sunday, in support of Spain’s unity and against Catalonia’s break-up from Spain. Two million voters out of Catalonia’s 5.3 million inhabitants took part in the referendum on October 1st, with 90% of them favoring independence from Spain.




    SALARIES — The average salary in Romania went down by a little over 1% in the month of August against July, in terms of both net and gross value. Romanians got an average salary of 2,364 lei, which is over 500 euros, by 27 lei or 6 euros less than in the previous month. The IT sector is the best paid, with average salaries of 1,300 euros, while the smallest salaries are reported in the hotels and restaurant sector – around 300 euros. The unemployment rate at national level stood at 4.18% in August, the same as the previous month.




    EXERCISE — The Romanian Defense Ministry has announced that the multinational and inter-institutional exercise “CETATEA 2017” has started today and will end on October 18. Planned by the Romanian Army General Staff and coordinated by the Army’s IT&C Department, the exercise is aimed at testing, developing, assessing and confirming the interoperability of the command and control systems, communications, computers, information, surveillance and research. Alongside IT&C structures from the Romanian army, several NATO member countries are also participating in the exercise.




    DEBATES — An emergency debate regarding Ukraine’s controversial education law is held this week in Strasbourg, at the autumn session of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly. The debate was initiated by the Romanian delegation with the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly and has been motivated by the new education law adopted in Ukraine, that restricts the rights of national minorities, including the Romanian one, to study in their mother tongue. Ukraine has announced it will submit the education law to the Council of Europe to be green lighted by experts while President Petro Poroshenko is expected in Strasbourg to offer clarifications on this matter.




    TENNIS — With a run to the final of the China Open in Beijing, Romanias Simona Halep became the new WTA World No.1 on Monday, October 9, when the updated rankings were released. The 26-year-old becomes the first player representing Romania to achieve this historic milestone since the computer rankings were introduced in 1975, and will be the 25th woman overall to hold the No.1 ranking. In the last 52 weeks, Halep has won the Madrid Open for the third Premier Mandatory title of her career, and reached the final of the French Open, the Italian Open and the Cincinnati Open, and the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. This season, shes scored five Top 10 victories and has made the last eight in 11 of her past 13 tournaments. At the conclusion of the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, Halep became the active player with the longest streak of consecutive weeks ranked inside the worlds Top 10. Halep entered the Top 10 for the first time on January 27, 2014, and has been there ever since.




    FOOTBALL — Romania’s national football squad played on Sunday its last game counting towards the 2018 World Cup preliminaries. Cosmin Contra’s trainees drew 1-all against Denmark away from home. Romania ranked 4th in Group E. Poland is qualified to the World Cup, and Denmark will play in the playoffs.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)













  • October 6, 2017 UPDATE

    October 6, 2017 UPDATE

    UNIONS – Trade unions Friday failed to reach an agreement with the Government in Bucharest over demands to give up the planned transfer of social security payment obligations from employers to employees. The head of the Cartel Alfa trade union confederation, Bogdan Hossu, said the Government was not interested in finding another solution and insisted instead on keeping this measure in place, which, Hossu argued, would lead to a fall in salaries. Taking part in the talks were also the trade unions in the healthcare sector, which demand, among other things, changes in the law on public sector salaries and the reintroduction of meal vouchers as of January 1.



    NATO – Romania will remain a responsible and active member of the North-Atlantic Alliance, the Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu said on Friday during a meeting with the head of NATOs Parliamentary Assembly, Paolo Alli. Romania is one of the most important partners of NATO and Euro-Atlantic security, Alli said on the other hand, at the opening conference of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly meeting held for 4 days in Bucharest. Not only has Romania managed to invest 2% of its GDP into defence, but it also contributes to the missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo, and has implemented ballistic missile defence systems, the NATO official mentioned. Taking part in the 63rd annual meeting of the NATO PA are more than 50 delegations from NATO member or partner countries. The main topics approached are the Alliances operations in Afghanistan, the NATO — EU relations, security at the Black Sea, the situation in East Asia and the humanitarian crisis in Syria and Iraq.



    SPAIN – The Government of Spain Friday asked Catalonia to dissolve its parliament and to hold regional elections in order to overcome the crisis dividing the country. Previously, the Catalan Foreign Minister, Raul Romeva, had said the Parliament of Catalonia would convene on Monday to decide on the unilateral proclamation of the regions independence. On Thursday the Constitutional Court of Spain suspended a session of the regional legislative body. Meanwhile on Thursday the PM of Spain, Mariano Rajoy, said the only solution to resolve the conflict was for Catalonia to give up its plan to declare its independence, and return to what he called “legality. In turn, the European Commission senior vice-president Frans Timmermans called for dialogue and reiterated that the dispute was a matter of Spanish domestic politics.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • 26.09.2017

    26.09.2017

    Minorités – Le président ukrainien Petro Prochenko a promulgué une loi controversée qui limite l’enseignement en langue maternelle pour les minorités nationales d’Ukraine. Une loi, censée, à son avis, améliorer la qualité de l’enseignement et aider à inclure le pays dans l’espace éducationnel européen. La Roumanie, la Bulgarie, la Hongrie, la Grèce et la République de Moldova, qui ont d’importantes communautés en Ukraine, ont pourtant critiqué la loi en question.

    Brexit – Les Roumains de Grande Bretagne « ne devraient pas s’inquiéter » de leur situation après le Brexit, car ils sont des « membres extrêmement valeureux de notre société » – c’est ce qu’a déclaré ce mardi dans une interview à l’agence de presse roumaine Agerpres, le ministre britannique des AE, Boris Johnson, qui effectue une courte visite à Bucarest. Selon M Johnson, après sa sortie du bloc communautaire, le Royaume Uni restera ouvert aux personnes «ayant du talent, de l’ambition et de la fermeté ». Pourtant, le pays aura le contrôle sur son système d’immigration. La Grande Bretagne souhaite garder sur son territoire les quelque 500.000 Roumains qui y sont établis, s’assurer qu’ils se sentent en sécurité et que leurs droits sont protégés, a encore précisé le ministre britannique. Lundi, Boris Johnson s’est entretenu avec le chef de la diplomatie roumaine, Teodor Melescanu, dans le contexte d’une mini-tournée qu’il effectue ces jours-ci à Prague, Bucarest et Bratislava.

    Protestations – Cartel Alfa, une des grandes confédérations syndicales de Roumanie, a démarré cette semaine des mouvements de protestation dans plusieurs villes du pays. Ses principales revendications : l’abandon du transfert des taxes sociales depuis l’employeur à l’employé et la reprise des négociations, ainsi que la signature de conventions collectives à tous les niveaux. Selon les syndicalistes, en cas de transfert des contributions sociales à la charge des salariés, ceux-ci se verront baisser le revenu net, le fonds de chômage sera supprimé alors que les contributions au régime de retraite diminueront elles aussi. Des centaines de personnes ont protesté lundi dans plusieurs villes roumaines. La confédération syndicale Cartel Alfa prépare de nouvelles manifestations pour le 4 octobre, à Bucarest.

    Police – Trois policiers roumains participeront, une année durant, aux côtés de collègues d’autres pays, à l’effort international pour renforcer et développer la capacité d’intervention des autorités locales en Géorgie et à Chypre. Deux policiers roumains participeront à la mission de l’UE en Géorgie, le troisième – à la mission de l’ONU à Chypre. Les agents de police roumains auront une présence active et dérouleront aux côtés des autorités locales des actions de prévention et de lutte contre la criminalité, accorderont de l’aide humanitaire et participeront à des missions de maintien de l’ordre public. A présent, 37 policiers roumains participent à 10 missions internationales, sur 4 continents, sous l’égide de l’UE, de l’ONU et de l’OSCE. La première mission de la police roumaine remonte à 1998, au Kosovo.

    Tennis – La joueuse de tennis roumaine Simona Halep (nr 2 mondiale) affronte aujourd’hui la Russe Daria Kassatkina (nr 31 WTA), au 2e tour du tournoi de Wuhan, en Chine. Deuxième favorite de la compétition, Simona est arrivée jusqu’en demi-finale de l’édition de l’année dernière ; elle a déjà vaincu Daria Kassatkina par deux fois, cette année à Roland Garros, et en 2016 – à Miami. Ce mardi encore, la Roumaine Sorana Cîrstea a été vaincue par la Chinoise Qiang Wang, sur le score de 6-3, 6-3.

    Football – La seule représentante de la Roumanie dans les compétitions européennes de football, l’équipe FCSB (ancienne Steaua Bucarest) affrontera jeudi l’équipe suisse de Lugano, dans un match de la Ligue Europa. Il y a deux semaines, les Roumains avaient vaincu à Bucarest les Tchèques de Viktoria Plzeň (score 3-0). Dans le cadre du groupe G, FCSB occupe la première place, avec 3 points, suivie par l’équipe israélienne Hapoel Beer Sheva.

    Emetteurs – Les émetteurs à ondes courtes de Galbeni (département de Bacau), via lesquels sont diffusées les émissions de Radio Roumanie Internationale, subissent des travaux de révision le 27 septembre, de 9h à 17h, heure locale (de 6h à 14h TU). Dans l’intervalle mentionné, vous pouvez nous capter par le biais des émetteurs à ondes courtes de Tiganesti, sur Internet, à l’adresse www.rri.ro ou en installant les applications mobiles téléchargeables Google Play et App Store, ainsi que sur votre portable.

    Météo – En Roumanie, les températures tournent aujourd’hui autour de la normale saisonnière. Le ciel est couvert sur le sud, le sud-ouest et sur les montagnes. Le vent est plus fort dans le sud-est, en montagne et sur le littoral. Les températures maximales de la journée iront de 18 à 25 degrés. 18 degrés et un ciel plutôt couvert à midi à Bucarest.

  • Promised solutions for penitentiary staff demands

    Promised solutions for penitentiary staff demands

    The authorities are aware that the Romanian prison system is riddled with complex problems. Both the employees in the system and the inmates are deeply dissatisfied, to such an extent that on August 1st, prison staff went on a work-to-rule strike. Prison guards demand improved working conditions, solutions to the personnel shortage problem, the reorganisation of detention facilities and the building of new prisons.



    After talks on Thursday with the unionists in the penitentiary system, Prime Minister Mihai Tudose announced the Cabinets willingness to take measures to improve the activity of the National Penitentiary Agency. The Government is considering, among other things, an increase in salaries as well as a review of the personnel requirements, in line with the current relevant standards. After the meeting, the head of the National Union of Penitentiary Workers, Stefan Teoroc, said that PM Mihai Tudose had also agreed to a change in the status of penitentiary workers:



    Ştefan Teoroc: “As far as our status is concerned, the Prime Minister was firmly in favour of changing the name into ‘Penitentiary Police, while as far as the number of jobs goes our position is that the same government resolution should increase the number of jobs in the penitentiary system from the current 15,000 to 20,000. We will analyse this together with the Justice Ministry, and even if this increase is to be made gradually, it should begin this year. The first step would be to add a number of jobs and to fill as many vacancies as possible.



    Teoroc also said he had asked the Prime Minister not to proceed with a planned 12,500,000 euro cut in the budget of the penitentiary system, and instead to use this amount for further hiring and for improving working conditions in prisons. He also warns that the unionists will not give up their protests until at least some of the promises made during Thursdays meeting have been met.



    On the other hand, the European Court for Human Rights calls on Romania to improve detention conditions. Prison overcrowding, inadequate sanitation facilities, lack of hygiene, and low food quality are some of the elements pointing to the severe failure of the prison system. In February, the director general of the National Penitentiary Agency, Marius Vulpe, announced that the fines imposed on Romania by the European Court for Human Rights over poor detention conditions totalled 1.6 million euro last year alone.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • August 7, 2017 UPDATE

    August 7, 2017 UPDATE

    VISIT – The French President, Emmanuel Macron, will pay a visit to Romania on August 24, at the invitation of his Romanian counterpart, Klaus Iohannis, the Presidential Administration announced on Monday. The agenda of talks will include ways to boost and deepen the bilateral relationship under the Strategic Partnership as well as major issues of European and international interest. The visit was agreed upon during a bilateral meeting between the two heads of state, on the sidelines of the European Council of June 23, when Emmanuel Macron accepted the invitation extended by Klaus Iohannis to continue their dialogue in Bucharest, the Presidential Administration also says.



    PARLIAMENTARY SESSION – Parliament will meet in an extraordinary session in Bucharest on Tuesday to vote on some emergency ordinances issued by the government last week. The emergency ordinances provide, among others, for increasing pensions only by adjusting them to the inflation rate, and for increasing the salaries of some Interior Ministry personnel. The government has also decided to establish a ceiling of some 1,900 Euro per month for the child rearing indemnity, as of September.



    SALARIES – The National Institute of Statistics released new data on Monday. Gross average wages went up by 0.8% in June, as compared to the previous month, up to almost 730 Euro, with net average salaries reaching 520 Euro. The highest wages are still in the IT and telecom industries, about 1,300 Euro, while the lowest are still in the hospitality industry, around 300 Euro. Data for May and June indicate that the increase in income was due to rainfall revenue.



    ANONIMUL FESTIVAL – The 14th ANONIMUL International Film Festival kick-started in the small town of Sfantu Gheorghe, in the Danube Delta on Monday. The special guest of the festival this year is the Mexican director Michel Franco, whose film “April’s Daughter earned him the “Un Certain Regard Award at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. The one-week festival will end with an award gala, with the awards been established based on the public’s vote.



    UNTOLD FESTIVAL– The UNTOLD electronic music festival in Cluj, the biggest in the country, came to a close on Monday. The event is estimated to have gathered the largest audience since its inception in 2015. Around 200 Romanian and foreign artists performed on the 10 stages, the largest of which is 100 meters long and over 35 meters high. The festival was designated the best European festival at its first edition. In 2016, it had an audience of 300,000.



    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, WTA no.2, has been designated top second seed in the WTA tournament in Toronto, Canada, with 2.4 million dollars in prize money up for grabs. Halep goes straight to the second round, where she will meet the winner of the game between the American player Madison Keys, WTA no. 21, and Croatias Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, WTA no. 30. No less than five Romanian players feature in the qualifiers, Irina Begu, Sorana Cîrstea, Monica Niculescu, Ana Bogdan and Patricia Ţig.


    .


    HEATWAVE –A code yellow alert against thunderstorms, torrential rain and hail has been issued for central, eastern and northern Romania, as well as for mountainous and hilly areas. The alert is valid until Wednesday. Rainwater may exceed 20 l/square meter in places, and even 40 l/square meter. The temperature-humidity comfort index will still be close to the critical threshold of 80 units in places, in the south of the country. Maximum temperatures will range between 24 and 36 degrees Celsius.

  • Government looks into pensions and allowances

    Government looks into pensions and allowances

    After the Cabinet formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats focused for about six months on the salaries of public sector employees, it is now the turn of pensioners to have their incomes scrutinised.



    The measure does not concern the large category of pensioners whose benefits are proportional to their life-time contributions to social security funds, but those who receive the so-called “special pensions, namely former diplomats, pilots, magistrates, and former employees of the Defence Ministry, Interior Ministry and the intelligence services. The average benefits paid to these categories reach nearly 2,000 euros, and this is outrageous for a country where the overwhelming majority of the 5.3 million pensioners receive in average ten times less than that.



    Under these circumstances, the Government intends to change the law that regulates special pensions. Without reducing the benefits paid at present, the Cabinet intends to keep future pensions below the salary earned by the respective people while employed. Special pensions will no longer be adjusted to the salary increases granted to those employed on the same positions, but only to the inflation rate. Here is the president of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, explaining the reasons behind this plan:



    Liviu Dragnea: “The greatest risk here is that, unless we do something about it, the budget impact of these special pensions, which currently stands at 6 billion lei, may get to 10-11 billion in two years time, perhaps even 15 billion. At this rate, these pensions may put a lot of strain on the public budget, to the point of making it impossible for the government to increase the benefits of the other several millions of pensioners in Romania.



    The National Liberal Party, in opposition, is not happy with the idea. The senior vice-president Ilie Bolojan explains:



    Ilie Bolojan: “Throughout its election campaign, the Social Democratic Party said nothing about changing the special pensions, about reducing or confining them. As for operating these changes by means of an emergency order, we are against this solution, because, as the bill on the unified pay scheme has proved, rushing a bill through and failing to assess all the effects it may create triggers negative consequences in other fields.



    Just as it has luxury goods and luxury pensioners, Romania also has luxury children, whose parents receive much higher allowances for their rearing, prorated to the parents salaries. The ruling coalition in Bucharest has decided to put a cap on these allowances, and the Labour Minister Olguta Vasilescu suggested a ceiling of 1,800 euros per month.



    In another move, as of August 1 employers pay contributions to the public pensions and healthcare schemes for their employees proportional to the minimum national salary for full time employees, even for their part-time staff and for salaries below 322 euros. The goal is to avoid cases when part-time employment contracts are signed by employers in order to avoid higher taxes and contributions.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • A la Une de la presse roumaine 13.07.2017

    A la Une de la presse roumaine 13.07.2017

    Finances,
    société, actu internationale – il y a du tout dans la presse roumaine
    d’aujourd’hui. Les banques roumaines sont les plus performantes d’Europe, 20%
    des revenus mensuels d’une famille sont destiné aux taxes alors que les jeunes
    roumains suivent les conseils de leur mère en choisissant leur emploi, alors
    que les salariés roumains ne font pas confiance à leurs patrons. Parallèlement,
    la presse roumaine s’interroge au sujet d’une éventuelle rupture dans l’histoire
    d’amour entre la France et l’Allemagne.



  • Migration and the labour market

    Migration and the labour market

    The EUs successive waves of eastward enlargement have also opened the community labour market for citizens of Central and East European countries. In 2004, as many as eight former communist countries joined the Union. Romania and Bulgaria followed suit in 2007, with Croatia being the last to join the community bloc in 2013. In search of safer and better-paid jobs, millions of Poles, Romanians, Hungarians and Bulgarians are working and paying taxes throughout the continent, from Sweden to Portugal and from Austria to Ireland.



    Their migration was a relief for their home countries, which no longer had to pay unemployment benefits to the numerous victims of the economic transition from a largely bankrupt centralised economy to capitalism, with its sometimes wild and unscrupulous facets. As a result, at present the labour market in Central and Eastern Europe continues to improve, with unemployment rates plummeting to the lowest level ever, although still above the EU average, a survey made by the well known consultancy firm Coface shows.



    Macroeconomic data show that over the past few years salaries have increased and inflation dropped, making household-generated consumption the main driver of economic growth. For instance, as of 2010, gross salaries have increased by over 30% in Romania and Bulgaria and by over 20% in Hungary and Poland, respectively, the survey reveals.



    Coface also notes that, in exchange, companies have been facing more difficult times, with increasingly demanding employees cautiously negotiating the level of salaries, and thus forcing them to accept higher labour costs. The low birth rate and the migration to Western Europe have also contributed to a workforce deficit, raising a barrier to business expansion. Even the companies that pay higher salaries are facing employment difficulties. Pay rises are currently exceeding work productivity gains, but regional labour costs are still three times lower on average than in the West.



    This disparity, which is a trump card for Central and Eastern Europe in terms of unit labour costs (the average cost of labour per unit of output produced) alongside the geographical and cultural proximity to the West, should bring significant competitive advantages to the region. However, these benefits might get compromised on medium term, if the migration of skilled young people continues, Coface warns in its survey. The labour force deficit might be reduced by encouraging migrants to return to their countries of origin, but this is rather unlikely. Thats why Coface recommends to the governments in the region to encourage the labour inclusion of ethnic communities, women and elderly people and to boost professional training.


    (Translated by: Diana Vijeu)

  • May 23, 2017 UPDATE

    May 23, 2017 UPDATE

    MANCHESTER ATTACK – A suicide bomber is the perpetrator of Monday nights terrorist attack on Manchester Arena at the end of a concert, the British PM Theresa May announced on Tuesday. The attack, claimed by the IS terror group, killed 22 people and wounded some 60 others, some of whom are in a serious condition. Many of the victims are children. The presumed attacker was identified as Salman Abedi, 22, Reuters reports, quoting several American officials. Born in Manchester, he was the son on Libyan refugees who had come to Britain to escape the Gaddafi regime. Security was tightened in Manchester and in the British capital, London. The Conservative PM Theresa May and the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn suspended their campaigns for the early parliamentary elections of June 8. This is the worst attack in Britain since the one in London on July 7, 2005, when 52 people died and nearly 700 were wounded. Two months ago, a radical Islamist rammed a vehicle into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing 5 people, including a Romanian. Bucharest joined the international community in condemning Mondays attack, and expressed solidarity with the British people. According to the authorities, there are no Romanians among the victims.




    SALARIES – On Tuesday the Romanian Senate passed the unified pay scale bill, which is supposed to raise salaries gradually for state employees until 2022. The Labour Minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu told Senators that the bill was correlated with the new Fiscal Code, and that it would provide a 56% average salary increase. The minister explained that the law was necessary in order to fix a dysfunctional public wage system. The bill goes next to the Chamber of Deputies, the lower chamber. Public administration trade unions expressed their dissatisfaction at the bill, and announced widespread protests next week across the country, including the capital. Union leaders said they expect 120,000 to take part.




    BY-ELECTIONS – In Romania, in 49 localities in 32 counties, local by-elections will be held on June 11, for mayor posts, given that some of the incumbent officials were elected into Parliament in December 2016, and others were sentenced for various offences and can no longer act as mayors. The election campaign begins on May 27 and ends on June 10. Eligible voters in the local elections are only those citizens who live or reside in the respective constituency.




    ECONOMY – The Romanian economic model within the EU was a topic for debate at a conference held at the Parliament Palace in Bucharest by the Association for Economic and Social Studies and Forecasts. Representatives of the government, business people, academics, and civil society activists presented their perspective for the next 10 years with regard to standards of living, education and workforce. According to the latest statistics, Romania has the highest economic growth in the Union. At the same time, the EC has warned Bucharest on the risk of overstepping the stated budget on medium term.




    INVESTIGATION – The former Social Democratic Party chairman Mircea Geoana, defeated in the presidential elections in 2009, and his campaign manager, former Social Democratic MP Viorel Hrebenciuc, were heard on Tuesday by the Parliament committee investigating the elections of 2009. After the hearings, Geoana said there had been a deliberate and coordinated effort at top level to influence the outcome of the 2009 election. In turn, Viorel Hrebenciuc said there had been problems with the polling stations abroad and that he suspected the election had been rigged. On Monday, the committee heard the vice-president of the Permanent Election Authority, Marian Muhulet, and the controversial journalist Dan Andronic, whose allegations led to the creation of the committee. The latter said he has no further information beyond what he had published, and no evidence that the 2009 elections had been tampered with. Andronic used to be a political adviser to former president Traian Basescu, who won the 2009 election. Andronic claimed that, on the night of the second round of elections in 2009, he met in an informal setting with the Prosecutor General Laura Codruta Kovesi, the former director of intelligence George Maior and his first deputy, Florian Coldea, and that the meeting looked like the gathering of a crisis committee. He further claimed that all the people mentioned risked being fired in case Geoana won the elections.




    OO7 – The famous British actor Roger Moore, 89, died on Tuesday in Switzerland after a brief battle with cancer, The Telegraph reports. He shot to fame with his part as agent 007 in several films in the James Bond franchise, between 1973 and 1985. Roger Moore played more than 91 parts in film and television productions, and devoted much of his time to humanitarian work.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • 23 May, 2017

    23 May, 2017

    ATTACK — 22 people have been killed and around 60 more injured in an explosion in Manchester on Monday, at the end of a concert on the Manchester Arena. British authorities have confirmed that a suicide bomber carried out the attack. Security measures have been bolstered, and the British government met today in emergency session. Prime Minister Theresa May and Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn have suspended their campaigns for the snap elections on 8 June. This is the worst attack in Britain since the July 7, 2005 attack in London, which left 52 dead and almost 700 injured. Two months ago, an Islamist rammed pedestrians with an automobile on Westminster Bridge, killing five, including one Romanian. Bucharest joined the international community in condemning Mondays attack, expressing solidarity with the British people. The Romanian authorities have said that no Romanians were among the victims.



    SALARIES — The Romanian Senate passed the Unified Pay Scale bill today, which is supposed to raise salaries gradually for state employees until 2022. Labor Minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu told senators that the bill was correlated with the new Fiscal Code, and that it would provide a 56% average salary increase. The minister explained that the law was necessary in order to fix a dysfunctional public wage system. The bill goes next to the Chamber of Deputies, the lower chamber. Public administration trade unions expressed their dissatisfaction at the bill, and announced widespread protests next week all across the country, including the capital. Union leaders said they expect 120,000 to attend the protests.



    INVESTIGATION — Former Social Democratic Party chairman Mircea Geoana, defeated in the presidential elections in 2009, and his campaign manager, former Social Democratic MP Viorel Hrebenciuc, are being heard today by the Parliament committee investigating the elections of 2009. On Monday, the committee heard the vice-president of the Permanent Election Authority, Marian Muhulet, and controversial journalist Dan Andronic, whose allegations led to the creation of the committee. The latter specified that he has no further information beyond what he published, and no evidence that the 2009 elections were tampered with. Andronic used to be a political adviser to former president Traian Basescu, who in 2009 won as an incumbent. Andronic claimed that, on the night of the second round of elections in 2009, he met in an informal setting General Prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi, former director of intelligence George Maior and his first deputy, Florian Coldea, and that the meeting looked like the gathering of a crisis committee. He further claimed that all the people mentioned risked being fired in case Geoana won the elections.



    TRUMP — US President Donald Trump was today in Bethlehem, in the West Bank, and said that he would do everything in his power to help Israelis and Palestinians reach a peace agreement. Trump met Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on the last day of his tour of the Middle East. The Palestinian president pleaded for the two state solution, along the 1967 borders. Israelis and Palestinians have not held direct talks in over 3 years. On Monday in Jerusalem, Trump emphasized the close ties between the US and Israel. He insisted on the threat posed by Iran against world peace, which he also emphasized during his visit to Saudi Arabia. This is Donald Trumps first international tour as president. He continues his tour visiting the Vatican, then attending the NATO summit in Brussels, and the G7 meeting in Sicily.



    BUCHAREST — The Romanian economic model within the EU is a topic for debate at a conference held at the Parliament Palace in Bucharest by the Association for Economic and Social Studies and Forecasts. Representatives of the government, business people, academics, and civil society activists are presenting their perspective for the next 10 years with regard to standards of living, education and workforce. According to the latest statistics, Romania has the highest economic growth in the Union. At the same time, the EC has warned Bucharest on its risk of overstepping the stated budget on medium term.



    NAVAL — Romanian training ship The Mircea goes today, until 22nd September, on an international training expedition lasting 122 days. It will stop over in 11 ports in 9 countries at the Mediterranean, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. The 163 members of the crew, of them 70 Romanian students will be joined by 8 cadets from naval academies in Bulgaria, China, Greece and Poland. The crew will go on official visits to the naval academies in Holland, Germany, Portugal and Spain. It will also take part in two prestigious naval events. This year, the Romanian and German military naval forces have signed an agreement on training future officers, unfolding for the duration of this international expedition. 110 cadets and 13 German trainers will be on board the Mircea.