Radio România Internațional

Tag: state budget

January 15, 2025 UPDATE

CULTURE DAY In Romania, January 15 was National Culture Day, marking the birth date of the national poet Mihai Eminescu. This year was all the more special as it celebrated the 175th anniversary of the birth of the greatest Romanian poet of all times. Many events took place in Bucharest and throughout the country, including conferences, debates, concerts and exhibitions, and entry to many museums was free. The Bucharest National Opera celebrated National Culture Day on Wednesday evening with a gala performance celebrating Romanian culture as expressed in faith, art and identity. The “Luceafărul” exhibition was opened at the Bruckenthal National Museum in Sibiu, the Lyric Theatre in Iași scheduled a special performance, while an exhibition called “Past, Present and Future” was opened at the Corvin Castle. On National Culture Day, the Radio Romania Culture channel invited a teenager from Vâlcea (south) to the theatre for the first time. With this symbolic gesture, the only national radio station dedicated exclusively to the arts calls on people and institutions to facilitate access to culture for their peers.

PROTEST The ‘CulturMedia’ National Federation of Culture and Press Trade Unions protested on Wednesday, on National Culture Day, wearing white armbands, to warn against the underfunding of the culture sector and the salary inequities to which employees of museums, libraries and cultural centers are subjected. The Federation demands that 1% of GDP be earmarked for Culture, that the salaries of museum and public library employees be brought in line with the education payment scheme, the elimination of the huge salary disparities between employees of performing arts institutions and employees of public museums and libraries, bonuses for work carried out on weekends and public holidays, as well as the payment of overtime. The unionists also demand that hiring be resumed, to counter the chronic personnel shortage in cultural institutions.

BUDGET The VAT will not be increased, Romania’s PM Marcel Ciolacu promised, after talks on the 2025 state budget bill with the finance minister, Tánczos Barna, and with the head of the national tax administration agency, ANAF. Ciolacu added the tax reform is expected to help bring down the inflation rate and increase people’s spending power. PM Marcel Ciolacu reiterated that the 2025 state budget bill will be passed by the government by the end of this month and will subsequently be sent to Parliament, for review and endorsement in the first week of the legislative session due to begin in February. He also said that the 7% deficit target agreed with the European Commission will be maintained, as will the target of 7% of GDP for investments. The PM also said that last year state revenues went up by 27%, and this year a roughly 30% increase is expected. The main indicators for the 2025 budget will be presented at Thursday’s government meeting. Also on Thursday, the Cabinet is to approve the presidential election timetable.

INTERESTS The Board of Directors of the National Bank of Romania has decided to keep the key interest rate at 6.5% per annum. Also, the lending facility interest rate stays at 7.50% per annum, the deposit facility interest rate at 5.50% per annum, and the minimum reserve requirements for banks’ national and foreign currency liabilities will also stay unchanged. Last year, the central bank lowered the key interest rate twice, in July, from 7% per annum to 6.75% per annum, and in August to 6.5% per annum. The key interest rate had not been changed since January 2023. According to the bank, the annual inflation rate rose in the last three months of 2024 more than expected, to 5.14% in December, from 4.62% in September. The National Bank estimates the inflation rate will decrease in the first quarter of 2025, but slower than previously expected. Significant uncertainties and risks related to inflation arise from the future tax and revenue policy, given the implementation of the set of tax and budget related measures recently approved by the Government for the purpose of fiscal consolidation, but also from the situation on the labor market and the wage dynamics in the economy. At the same time, significant uncertainties continue to be linked to the evolution of energy and food prices, as well as to future developments in the crude oil market, amid geopolitical tensions, central bank experts argue.

ELECTION The MP Emanuel Ungureanu (Save Romania Union) has filed a criminal complaint with the Prosecutor General’s Office against Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and the head of the Timiş County Council, Alfred Simonis. Ungureanu said the complaint was related to the the two officials’ TikTok chat about redirecting votes from the Social Democratic party to the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians candidate George Simion in last year’s presidential elections. He accused Ciolacu and Simonis of corrupting voters and misusing influence and authority to obtain undue benefits, as well as preventing the exercise of electoral rights. Emanuel Ungureanu called on prosecutors to question the heads of Social Democratic Party branches and to conduct computer searches to see if the call to direct votes to George Simion and Călin Georgescu circulated on the Social Democrats’ WhatsApp groups. (AMP)

15 January 2025
November 17, 2023 UPDATE

BUDGET PM Marcel Ciolacu said on Thursday that there will be no new
taxes next year and that the Romanian government will have money by fighting
tax evasion. According to him, in October, revenue collection to the state
budget reached a record level, around EUR 8. By keeping the same pace and
maintaining non-essential expenses under control, the PM added, by the end of
the year we will meet the deficit target agreed with the European Commission.
The statement comes after, recently, the Liberal leader Nicolae Ciucă argued
that Romania cannot afford an increase in taxes next year and that funding
sources must be found to support the draft pensions law.

POVERTY
One in 5 Romanians was affected by poverty in 2022, the National Statistics
Institute reported. The number of people in need was 4.2 million, slightly
below the figure reported in the previous year. The highest poverty rate was
reported among youth up to 24 years of age, with the poverty rate for
households with children and youth 5.2% higher than in households without dependent
children and youth. The National Statistics Institute also said that, without
pension and other welfare payments, nearly half of the population would have
been below the poverty threshold, and the situation would have been even worse
among the elderly.

VISIT
Romania and Tanzania have agreed on mutual student grant programmes. The
president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis had a meeting with his counterpart, Samia
Suluhu Hassan in the capital city Dar es Salaam on Friday, and discussed the
development of this country’s relations with the EU. Tanzania may count on
Romania as regards promoting and encouraging its relations with the EU, president
Iohannis said after the meeting. He presented Romania’s view on giving a fresh
impetus to the country’s relations with African states, based on the recently
adopted National Strategy for Africa. Iohannis also said agreements were
reached on bilateral cooperation in areas like education, civil protection,
agriculture, forestry, IT and cyber security. In turn, the president of Tanzania
announced that Romania decided to provide 10 grants for students from Tanzania,
which in turn will be providing 5 grants to young Romanians who wish to study
there. Two memorandums were also signed on disaster risk management and
cooperation and research in agriculture. The president of Romania is on a tour
in Africa, which began on Tuesday in Kenya. On Saturday, Klaus Iohannis will be
received by the president of Zanzibar, Hussein Mwinyi, and then he will travel
to the Republic of Cabo Verde, for talks with president Jose Maria Neves. The
tour concludes on November 23 in Senegal, with political consultations with
president Macky Sall.

MILITARY The Romanian
company Aerostar, based in Bacău, eastern Romania, Friday signed a cooperation
agreement with Derco Aerospace (a member of the US group Lockheed Martin),
concerning technology transfer for the repair of F-16 aircraft equipment operated
by the Romanian Army. Attending the event was NATO’s deputy secretary general
Mircea Geoană. He said NATO was interested in 2 goals-expanding the defence
industry in all member states and creating an innovation ecosystem for dual-use
industries (civilian and military), benefiting the newer NATO member states.
The agreement was signed just days after the opening of the first European F-16
training centre, at the Feteşti air base in the south-east of Romania, and capitalises on 26 years of cooperation between Lockheed Martin and Romania.

FOOTBALL
Romania’s national football team are in Hungary for a match against Israel on
Saturday evening, in Qualifying Group I of the 2024 European Championship to be
hosted by Germany. Because of the war at home, the Israelis had to postpone
their October-November matches, and to play abroad the matches scheduled at
home. Romania completes the qualifying stage on Tuesday, in Bucharest, with a match
against Switzerland. Undefeated in the first eight matches, Romania has 16
points and is behind group leader Switzerland on goal difference. Next comes
Israel, with 11 points, and Kosovo, with 10 points. The two top-ranking teams
in each group go to the final tournament. Romania last qualified for a final European
tournament in 2016 and for a World Cup in 1998. (AMP)

17 November 2023
Government adopts the pension bill

Most
of the five million pensioners in Romania are some of the poorest at European
Union level. The average pension in September stood at a little over 400 EUR,
the National Statistics Institute reports. Due to inflation, bills, food and
medicine have sky-rocketed, while pensioners’ spending power has gone down. Since
1990, all governments, irrespective of orientation or political ideology, have
promised to show more consideration for Romania’s elderly, and the current
Cabinet makes no exception, promising to become a champion of generosity, the
first to increase pensions twice in a single year. A new pension law was passed
by the Government on Thursday, not without a tough negotiation between the
Labor Ministry, controlled by the Social-Democrats, and the Finance Ministry,
controlled by the Liberals, the media notes. The Cabinet meeting was postponed
hours on end, as the Social-Democratic Party and the Liberal Party in the
ruling coalition worked with different numbers as to the impact the new bill
would have on the state budget. The Liberals said it would translate into 3% of
the GDP, much higher than the original estimates, while the Social-Democrats
claimed the coalition partners were mistaken. Finally, the two parties agreed
the increase would be implemented in two phases: one on January 1, when
pensions will go up by 13.8% for everyone, then a second phase on September 1, through
recalculation.

Labor Minister Simona Bucura-Oprescu says the recalculation will
help level out inequities between Romanians with different degrees of seniority
or between men and women. Overall, pensions will go up 40% by the end of 2024.
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, the president of the Social-Democratic Party,
wants to fast-track the bill in Parliament so that it should be voted by
November 20 and take effect on January 1, 2024. Following Thursday’s meeting,
Finance Minister Marcel Boloș said increasing
pensions is a priority but also a responsibility for the government, which
should also ensure the country’s financial stability. Senate Speaker and Liberal
Party president Nicolae Ciucă, says that the
Liberals have always supported the increase of pensions, although in a
sustainable way. The media writes the pension bill was also discussed with
World Bank experts, and that negotiations were attended by both the Labor and
Finance ministers. From the opposition, USR has accused the ruling parties of defrauding the state
budget for two years, the consequences of which are visible today: the state
does not have the funds to sustain the pension law. (VP)

10 November 2023
August 16, 2023

Security – Romania’s security has
been consolidated and the efforts to strengthen the structures of the North-Atlantic
Alliance on the territory of the country, especially the NATO battle group
established in 2022, will be continued, said President Klaus Iohannis, who, on
Tuesday, attended the ceremonies in Constanta (southeast), which marked Navy
Day. In turn, the Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu gave assurances that the government
would allocate the necessary resources for equipping and modernizing the
Romanian Naval Forces. Security at the Black Sea ensures the stability of the
entire region and turns Romania into an important security provider, the speaker
of the Senate, Nicolae Ciucă, also said.

Government – The Romanian government resumes discussions
about the measures to balance the state budget. The executive should finalize
and adopt, by the end of the month, the emergency ordinances for reducing the
expenses of the civil servants’ apparatus and the increase in the budget revenue
receipts. According to a draft law, which appeared in the public space, owners
of luxury cars whose value exceeds 100,000 Euros will have to pay a tax, IT
employees whose salaries exceed 10,000 lei per month (about 2,000 Euros) will
no longer be exempted from taxes, and workers in constructions and agriculture
will have to pay health insurance contributions. At the same time, state
employees who have a gross monthly salary of over 10,000 lei may no longer
receive holiday vouchers. The government also intends to increase the excise
duty on sugar and to impose only two VAT rates of 9 and 19%. SMEs with incomes
up to 300,000 lei could be taxed with 1%, and those that exceed this income,
with 3%. Last but not least, companies that shift profits would have to pay a
15% surtax on the amounts transferred. As to the emergency ordinance regarding
the reduction of the size of the state apparatus, the government is analyzing
the possibility of abolishing 200,000 unfilled positions, merging some public
institutions and reducing the number of state secretaries, management
positions, members in the boards of administrators and the number of members in
the cabinets of local authorities.

Tennis – The Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea started
the WTA 1,000 tournament in Cincinnati, in the American state of Ohio with a
victory. Cîrstea, 31st in the WTA ranking, passed the Russian
Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round with a score of 6-0, 6-2 and will meet
in the second round Maria Sakkari, from Greece, seeded 8th in the
tournament. A second Romanian player in the main draw, Irina Begu, was defeated
by the Czech Marie Bouzkova, 6-2, 6-2. However, in the doubles, the pair Irina
Begu from Romania and Sara Sorribes Tormo, from Spain, qualified for the round
of 16 after defeating the pair Elisabetta Cocciaretto (Italy) / Mayar Sherif
(Egypt) 7-6 (7/5), 6-3). The Romanian-Spanish pair will meet the pair Storm
Hunter (Australia) / Elise Mertens (Belgium), seed number two, in the round of
16.

Gaudeamus – The Gaudeamus Radio Romania Book Fair in
Sibiu (center) has come to an end. For five days, approximately 15,000 visitors
attended the event, more than at the previous edition. Conni Chifor, a representative
of the fair, talked about the very large number of children present and said
that, for them, literature was definitely the queen of the ball. She added that
the public, including those who watched the events online, could participate in
numerous contests with book prizes. The next edition of the Gaudeamus Radio
Romania Book Fair will take place in Iasi (east), during the first week of
school, between September 13-17.

Baccalaureate – Almost 34,000 high school graduates
from Romania, enrolled for the second session of the Baccalaureate exam, are today
taking the Romanian language and literature exam, with the papers being
assessed digitally for the first time. The tests will be scanned and uploaded
to a platform that will distribute them to two teachers from any corner of the
country, except from the county of origin of the student. On Thursday, the
mandatory written test in the specialty subjects is scheduled. The optional test,
at the student’s choice, in the specialty subject is scheduled for August 18
and on August 21 candidates who belong to national minorities will take the
written test in their native language and literature. The first results will be
announced on August 25, followed by the final results on August 29 after
examining potential appeals. In order to pass the baccalaureate exam, high
school graduates must pass all language and digital skills assessment tests and
must obtain an exam average grade of at least 6.00 in the written tests. At the
first session of the Baccalaureate exam, only 75% of the registered candidates
passed the exam.

UN – Almost
10,000 civilians have lost their lives since the beginning of the war in
Ukraine, according to the UN. Thus, 9,444 civilians have died, including 500
children, and more than 16,940 have been injured since the beginning of the
Russian invasion in February 2022. The real figure is probably much higher. The
UN notes that the toll is not complete because data is missing from several
regions, especially from Mariupol, Lisiceansk and Severodonetsk, occupied by the
Russian forces after heavy fighting, and also from Kyiv. The figures also show
that the vast majority of those killed (7,339) died in Ukrainian regions bombed
by Russia and defended by the Ukrainian army. In the regions of Donetsk and
Lugansk, in the east, there were significantly more casualties on both sides of
the front than in the capital Kyiv, in the center and west of Ukraine. The UN
report also notes that more civilians died in the first months of the war. In
the spring and summer of 2023, between 170 and 180 civilians lost their lives
each month. (LS)

16 August 2023
July 31, 2023

TAXES Fresh talks are scheduled today in
the Cabinet on tax-related measures designed to rebalance the state budget.
The Social Democratic PM Marcel Ciolacu is to have meetings with the finance
minister Marcel Boloș, and a report is expected from the national tax agency
with respect to revenue collection. The ruling coalition is considering tax
increases and the elimination of certain tax facilities, as well as the
cancelling of 200,000 public sector positions that are currently vacant and a
reduction of expenditure in ministries. According to the PM, the proposed
measures will be implemented in 3 stages, beginning on September 1, October 1 and
January 1, 2024.

VEHICLES The local segment of the car
scrapping programme Rablaˮ started today, in an effort by the Romanian
authorities to get heavily polluting vehicles out of circulation. Apart from
the funds provided by the Environment Ministry, local authorities contribute
20% of the vouchers granted to citizens who de-register cars older than 15
years. In a first stage in April, town halls enrolled in this programme, and as
of today citizens may apply for the funds available in the programme, no later
than the end of August. The Environment Ministry earmarked some EUR 50 mln for
this programme, and estimates around 100,000 polluting cars will be scrapped.

CONCERT The Bucharest National Opera
orchestra Sunday night performed for the first time at the Musikverein hall in
Vienna, which hosts the traditional New Year’s concert in the Austrian capital
city. The concert was a tribute to the Romanian composer Ciprian
Porumbescu, as the year 2023 was declared the year of Ciprian Porumbescu, to
mark 170 years since the birth and 140 years since the death of the famous
composer. The programme consisted exclusively of works by Ciprian Porumbescu:
New Moon, the first Romanian operetta, the Ballad, the
Romanian Rhapsody. The soloists, choir and orchestra of the
National Opera House in Bucharest were conducted by Daniel Jinga, with special
guests including maestro Gheorghe Zamfir and the soloist Maria Coman.

TRAINING The training ship Mircea has today
returned to the military port of Constanţa, after a 28-day training session in
the Mediterranean. On board were 64 sophomore students with the Mircea cel
Bătrân Naval Academy, as well as 10 exchange students from partner
academies in Bulgaria, Poland, Turkey, Latvia, Italy and Spain. The training
ship had stopovers in the ports of Piraeus in Greece, Taranto in Italy and Izmir
in Turkey, and completed an over 2,200 mile journey.

UKRAINE Ukraine has today confirmed that
Saudi Arabia will host a peace summit aimed, according to Kyiv, at restoring
peace in line with the Ukrainian formula, EFE reports. According to the head
of Ukraine’s presidential office Andriy Yermak, apart from guaranteeing peace
for Ukraine, the 10-point formula will create mechanisms to counter future conflicts. For
Kyiv, the formula includes the withdrawal of Russian troops from its territory.
According to Western diplomats, the choice of Saudi Arabia to host the talks is
designed to facilitate the participation of China, which has good relations
with Moscow and with Riyadh.

SPORTS PM Marcel Ciolacu congratulated the
Romanian athletes and coaches who took part in the European Youth Olympic
Festival hosted this year by Maribor (Slovenia). He said Romania once again
confirmed its rebirth as a sports powerhouse after it finished the competition
with 20 medals, shoulder to shoulder with France, which came 3rd in
the final ranking. Their result reconfirms their hard work, talent and the
pride of proving to the world that we are a country which, in spite of
difficulties, remains able to cultivate the spirit required of great champions,ˮ
Ciolacu said. Romania’s performance at this year’s European Youth Olympic
Festival was the best after the ones in a Bath (1995) and Paris (2003). (AMP)

31 July 2023
The 2023 draft state budget

The Romanian Finance Ministry has made public the draft state budget for 2023, saying the document was drafted so as to convey a message of trust, realism, coherence and responsibility. Its authors built the budget on an estimated growth rate of 2.8% of the GDP, an annual inflation rate of 8%, a bigger number of employees and on a smaller unemployment rate, set at 2.7%. Revenues to the state budget have been put at approximately 108 billion euro, while expenditure may stand at 121 billion euro. This brings the budget deficit to 4.4% of the GDP, which is expected to go down to 2.95% in 2024.

Among the coalition governments objectives for next year are healthy public finances, directed towards supporting vulnerable categories and SMEs, reforms in the labour and pension systems, strengthening corporate governance in state companies, by using best practices at European level, with a view to improving their performance. No additional taxes will be introduced and the main focus will be on investments, according to Finance Minister Adrian Caciu: There will be no additional taxes, but massive investment, not only from the public perspective. Next years budget is built on a volume of investment which I would call historic, which I also want to see implemented. Im talking about 112 billion lei, accounting for 7.2% of the GDP. The most important thing is to invest in the Romanian capital and the economy. Although we have a large number of companies with Romanian capital, the share of added value in the GDP is not as significant so it must be supported and increased. This can only be done through economic reconversion, the switch from consumption economy and dependence on imports to production economy in the domestic economy.

The draft state budget also provides for a 10% increase in the civil servants gross salaries and of 12.5% in pensions, compensatory time off for overtime work, and keeping the food allowance at the level of 2022. Also, the gross minimum wage will be increased to around 600 euros per month. The ministries of defence, development, transports and education will have significantly bigger budgets, unlike the energy, justice and healthcare ministries which will have smaller allocations. (EE)

7 December 2022
The 2022 budget, endorsed by Parliament

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

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

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

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

24 December 2021
The State Budget – adopted

On Tuesday, Romanias Parliament adopted the 2021 state and social security budget in the form proposed by the Government. This is the first state budget that was not altered in Parliament, with the coalition managing to reject all the amendments proposed by the opposition. Representatives of the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union – PLUS Alliance and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, which make up the governing coalition, have described the 2021 budget as balanced, based on sustainability, political responsibility and economic growth.

Prime Minister Florin Cîţu has stated that this budget marks the beginning of Romanias reconstruction, but this can be done only by reforming the administrative apparatus and through investments. Florin Cîţu:

“Reform and investments, these are the two things that this budget is focused on. Record investments, half from European funds, and reform, mentioned so many times in the public space, but rather ignored in reality by many politicians. So, its time we did it.”

Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare says the budget is robust, balanced and realistic. In turn, the Deputy Prime Minister Dan Barna considers that Tuesdays vote in Parliament confirms that Romania now has the most ambitious investment budget it has ever had.

The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians has drawn attention to the fact that multi-annual budgets are needed to secure economic growth and predictability for investors. Here is the Deputy PM Kelemen Hunor:

“Weve managed to come up with a very well-structured budget, so in 2021, not only that the deficit goes down to 7.1, but we will be able to make investments in all major fields, from big infrastructure to health-care, from education to environmental protection and local development. These are investments that will change Romania in the coming years.”

The opposition, which had filed more than 3,400 amendments, claims that the budget is based on the austerity principle. The Social Democrats have accused the governing coalition of instating a “budgetary dictatorship” and getting an absolute control over the budget, despite all constitutional provisions and democratic practices. Here is Lucian Romaşcanu, leader of the Social Democratic Senators:

“The budget is anti-economic, anti-social, illegitimate and anti-national. It represents by no means the will of those who sent us to Parliament, and the worst thing is that, for the first time in 30 years, a budget was adopted without any amendments”.

Representatives of the ultranationalist Alliance for the Unity of Romanians have also criticized the budget. Here is Deputy Mircea Chelaru:

“This is the governing coalitions budget, not Romanians budget. Is an appalling budget, built on political exclusion.”

Romanias 2021 budget was draw up on the basis of a 4.3% economic growth and a budget deficit of 7.1%, with revenues of up to 75 billion Euro and spending set at some 90 billion Euro. (M.I.)

3 March 2021
February 25, 2021

Covid-19
RO. The Covid-19 vaccination campaign continues in Romania. 1.5 million doses
have been used so far to vaccinate some 850 thousand people, mostly with Pfizer/BioNTech.
The Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines have also been administered across the
country. The vaccination of education employees, through school inspectorates,
began on Wednesday in Bucharest and most counties. The whole procedure will
take until March 10 for the first dose of vaccine, and authorities estimate
that 60,000 people will be immunized during this period. So far, more than
42,000 teachers have already been vaccinated. On the other hand, almost 4,000
new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 have been reported today,
following about 37,000 tests run nationwide. In total, since the beginning of
the pandemic in Romania, over 790,000 cases have been registered, and about 90%
of the patients have been cured. The total number of deaths has exceeded 20
thousand.

Pandemic. EU leaders
are to decide today on the issuance of vaccination certificates for EU
citizens, following the insistent request of southern European countries, which
depend heavily on tourism and are desperately trying to save the summer season
of 2021. Restrictions imposed to stop the spread of coronavirus infection have
caused deep recessions in 2020 in the European Union, hitting in particular the
south of the continent. As vaccination campaigns step up, some governments,
such as those of Greece and Spain, are pushing for the adoption of vaccination
certificates at EU level so that EU citizens can travel again. However,
countries such as France and Germany are much more reluctant, saying that such
a decision would create a de facto obligation to vaccinate and would be
discriminatory against those who cannot or do not want to be vaccinated. In the
world, according to worldometers, at least 113 million people have been
infected with the new coronavirus so far. 2.5 million people have died and more
than 88 million have been declared cured since the beginning of the pandemic a
year ago.

European Council. Today and tomorrow,
Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis is attending an extraordinary meeting of
the European Council. The members have
gathered via video conference to discuss the current situation of the Covid-19
pandemic, preparedness for health threats, security and defense, and relations
with the Southern Neighborhood. According to a draft conclusion document
obtained by Radio Romania, non-essential travel within the EU and from outside
must still be restricted, but in a proportionate and non-discriminatory manner,
taking into account the specificities of each community inside or outside the
EU. Also, the movement of goods and
services in the single market should not be affected, the Council members
belive. On Tuesday, Klaus Iohannis had a video conference with the President of
the European Council Charles Michel and other European leaders, in preparation
for the summit.

Budgets. The
state and social security draft budgets have reached Romania’s Parliament. They
will be analyzed and endorsed by the joint specialize committees and follow the
entire formal cycle so as to have the bills ready by Monday, March 1st.
The governing coalition has decided that the MPs representing the three parties
will not file amendments and will endorse the bills as they were submitted by
the Executive. From the opposition, the Social Democratic Party criticizes this
year’s austerity budget and has prepared lots of amendments. However, there is
little chance for amendments to be accepted that will substantially change the
two bills, because Parliament has already voted on the Law regarding the ceilings
that set the financial constrains for the two budgets. This year, the deficit
cannot exceed 7.16% of the GDP, and personnel costs will have to stay below
9.8%. The plenary vote on the two draft budgets is scheduled for next Tuesday.

HoReCa. The principle of
‘first come, first served’ has been removed from the Government Emergency
Ordinance on support measures for HoReCa companies, the Minister of Economy,
Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Claudiu Năsui, has said today. He has stressed that, following the removal
of this principle, all eligible applicants, regardless of when they applied,
will receive funding. The Minister of Economy has also stated that this aid
scheme is based on a budget of one billion lei (approx. 200 million euros) and
benefits the HoReCa sector in the form of grants in the amount of 20% of the
calculation base, without exceeding 800,000 euro per enterprise. HoReCa
entrepreneurs have repeatedly called for the situation of restaurants to stop being
decided depending on the COVID incidence rate. They recalled that the industry
is on the verge of bankruptcy. (M.I.)

25 February 2021
February 23, 2021 UPDATE

Covid-19 Ro. 3,382 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were registered in the last 24 hours in Romania, following more than 32,000 tests run at national level, the Strategic Communication Group reported on Tuesday. During the same period, 119 people diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection died, bringing the total number of deaths to over 20,000. Almost 7,500 patients with COVID-19 are hospitalized in specialized health units, of whom 978 in intensive care. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, almost 785 thousand people have been infected in Romania, and about 90% of them have recovered. The vaccination campaign continues, and 1.4 million doses have been administered so far. Most people have been vaccinated with the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. Serums from Moderna and AstraZeneca are also administered across the country. The coordinator of the vaccination campaign, Valeriu Gheorghiţă, has stated that in Romania the immunization rate of 50% of the population should be reached between June and July this year.

Pandemic. The total number of COVID-related deaths exceeded 500 thousand in the United States on Tuesday. President Joe Biden ordered flags flown at half-staff on federal buildings for five days as a tribute paid to all those who have died since the start of the pandemic a year ago. According to the latest worldometers.info update, over 112 million infections have been confirmed so far in the world, and 2.5 million people have died. Over 87 million people have recovered. Meanwhile, European states are stepping up efforts to prevent the new coronavirus strains from spreading. Germany currently fears a third wave of the pandemic amidst plans to ease some of the restrictions recently introduced. Italy has announced an extension of the bans on travel between regions until March 27 due to an increase in the infection rate. In turn, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a timetable for lifting the hard lockdown in that country in an effort to restart the British economy.

Healthcare. Three hospitals in Romania have signed contracts with the Ministry of European Investments and Projects in order to improve the safety of patients and medical staff in the fight against Covid-19. They are the St. John Emergency Clinical in Bucharest, the St. Apostle Andrew County Emergency Clinical Hospital in Constanţa (southeast) and the Roman Municipal Emergency Hospital (east). The projects, which benefit from European funding, are worth a total of approximately 9 million euros. The diagnosis, care and treatment capacity will increase and medical imaging equipment, mechanical ventilation devices, defibrillators, as well as specific equipment for emergency and intensive care will be purchased, the Minister of Health, Vlad Voiculescu, has announced. The action comes after two fires in two Romanian hospitals where patients with Covid-19 were cared for resulted in dozens of dead and injured.

Budget. The draft state and social security budgets for 2021 reached Romanias Parliament on Tuesday, after the Government made some final corrections. The debate schedule will be accelerated, and according to some political sources, the leaders of the ruling coalition (PNL, USR / Plus and UDMR) have agreed that their MPs should not table any amendments. On the other hand, the opposition Social Democratic Party disagrees with what it calls an austerity budget, against the background of the economic crisis generated by the pandemic, and says it is preparing “thousands of amendments”. The two chambers of parliament will meet in a joint session next Monday to debate the budget, with the final vote scheduled for a day later.

Law. The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest is to debate and vote in Wednesdays meeting the draft law for approving the ceilings of some indicators specified in the fiscal-budgetary framework for 2021. The bill was endorsed by the Senate on Tuesday and provides that the ceiling of the general consolidated budget balance, expressed as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product, is 7.16% in 2021 and 5.84% in 2022. The personnel expenditure ceiling is 9.8% in 2021 and 9.1% in 2022. The public debt ceiling, according to the European Union methodology for the end of 2021, is 52% of the Gross Domestic Product. The ceiling for the issuance of guarantees by the Government through the Ministry of Finance and by the territorial administrative units for 2021 is 30 thousand million lei. The Chamber of Deputies is the decision-making body on this matter.

Miners. The miners in Valea Jiului, in western Romania, stopped the protests, after the authorities found solutions for the payment of the salaries that the Hunedoara Energy Complex did not grant on time. The 70 miners trapped underground for almost a week, decided on Monday to come to the surface and thus end the protest. The decision was made after talks by their union leaders with Labor Minister Raluca Turcan. On Monday evening, a decision was adopted that allows the payment of outstanding salaries for insolvent companies too, such as the Energy Complex, which has been in this critical situation for over a year. Thus, the miners will receive their outstanding salaries and benefits – meal and transport vouchers – in three installments, with the first payments to due on Thursday and Friday. The solution found in the negotiations ensures the miners salaries for the next three months, during which time the Energy Complex must reorganize itself and propose a plan to ensure its long-term operation. Despite the agreement, the miners have stated that they will not give up the protests, but will no long hold them underground. People are worried because they do not know what will happen to their jobs after the three months in which their salaries are covered. (MI)

23 February 2021
Draft state budget for 2019

Criticised by the right-wing Opposition for the unacceptable delay in coming up with a public budget law, on Thursday the Government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats made public the 2019 state budget bill. According to the Ministry for Public Finances, the budget relies on a Gross Domestic Product that for the first time exceeds 1,000 billion lei (roughly 212 billion euro), on a 5.5% economic growth rate, a 2.8% average annual inflation rate and an estimated budget deficit of 2.55% of GDP.

The revenues expected in 2019 are put at over 341 billion lei, accounting for 33.4% of the GDP. According to the authorities, the largest amounts are expected to come from social security contributions, VAT, excises, as well as from income taxes. In turn, public expenditure is put at over 367 billion lei, accounting for 35.9% of GDP. The biggest funds will be spent on social assistance, public sector salaries and investments.

Unemployment is supposed to drop this year from 3.31% in 2018 to 3.2%, meaning that in late 2019 the number of unemployed people in Romania will be around 287,000. Net average salaries will go up to around 656 euros, and the average number of people employed will slightly exceed 6.6 million.

The main goals of this years state budget are to support public investments, public healthcare and education. Investments will account for 4.57% of GDP and will be channelled, among other areas, into the National Programme for Local Development, the defence industry, transport infrastructure and water management. The budget earmarked for the public healthcare sector is approx. 12% higher than in 2018, and will be spent primarily on hospital equipment, particularly for the procurement of incubators, ultrasound machines, screening, MRI scanning and radiotherapy equipment.

In Education, the 47% budget increase is mostly designed to cover salary raises, but money will also be earmarked for investments and projects aimed at modernising the teaching process by means of ITC equipment.

The state budget also stipulates a 15% increase in pension benefits, starting this autumn. The defence sector receives, in its turn, 2% of the GDP, in line with the commitments undertaken as a NATO member.

As always, the draft state budget has been met with a fair share of discontent. Although larger sums have been earmarked for the local administration, mayors argue that local budgets will be severely reduced because town halls are expected to take over from the central authorities a large share of social assistance expenses. Also, the ministries for the business environment, communications and energy will be getting smaller budgets than in 2018.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

1 February 2019
December 28, 2018

SUPREME DEFENCE COUNCIL – Romanias President Klaus Iohannis announced on Friday, fresh from the Supreme Defense Council meeting, that he has extended the mandate of general Nicolae Ciucă as chief of staff. The mandate of general Ciucă expires on December 31, and Romania cant be left without an Army chief, president Iohannis has also said. He said he rejected the proposals made by the defense minister Gabriel Leş, on generals Ciucas successor, because they do not abide by the law. Earlier the line minister announced he will not extend general Ciucas mandate. The previous session of Romanias Supreme Defence Council was held on December 19, when the Council approved, among others, the army endowment plan for the 2019 – 2028 timeframe, as well as the forces and means that Romania will contribute to missions and operations on theatres of operations abroad next year. 1,902 Romanian troops will take action on international theatres of operations, that is 127 more troops than in 2018, and some 759 military and policemen from the Romanian Interior Ministry will be sent on EU, OSCE, NATO and UN missions. Romania will further contribute troops to the NATO-led Operation Resolute Support in Afghanistan and will maintain the level of troops deployed as part of allied operations in the Western Balkans. As a first, a detachment of cargo and rescue helicopters will take part in the UN mission in Mali.

GOVERNMENT – Romanian PM Viorica Dăncilă is today chairing the last government session of the year 2018. The agenda of the meeting covers such issues as a draft law on accepting the changes made by the European Council to the electoral procedure for the EP elections. The novelty is that “Member States may provide for the possibilities of advance voting, postal voting and electronic and internet voting. Where they do so, they must adopt measures sufficient to ensure in particular the reliability of the result, the secrecy of the vote and the protection of personal data. Referring to Romanias 2019 budget, Viorica Dăncilă has said it might be adopted in the first government session in January 2019 and submitted to Parliament for approval, so that it could be adopted by the end of January.

ANTI-CORRUPTION – The prosecutors of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate in Bucharest, DNA, in early November closed the file on the EADS contract, which provided for securing Romanias frontiers for 750 million Euros, the aforementioned institution has announced earlier today. DNA has announced this solution has been embraced because the deed is not included in the criminal law and there is no evidence indicating that a person has committed crime. In May 2004, the French group EADS signed with the Romanian Interior Ministry a contract to secure the countrys borders, because Romania wanted to join the EU and tightening border control was a prerequisite condition. The first investigation was started in 2005, against some persons who were employed by the Interior Ministry back then. The verification started following a notification sent by the leadership of the Interior Ministry, according to whom public funds had allegedly been used inappropriately, and those taking part in the negotiations did not observe some legal terms, and the value of the contract to tighten border control had been overestimated. Some of the names involved in the case include former ministers Marian Săniuță, Vasile Blaga and Dan Nica.

BORDER TRAFFIC – The Romanian border was crossed by over one million people between December 21 and 26, during the Christmas mini-holiday, registering a 10% increase as compared to the same period of 2017, the Border Police has announced. The most transited border was that in the west of the country, where some 450,000 border crossings were reported. 260,000 other people chose to fly to and from Romania during this time span. Also, 159,000 people crossed the border from and into the Republic of Moldova, and 68,000 others from and into Bulgaria.

HANDBALL – Romanias mens handball team tonight take on the similar team of the Czech Republic, in a fixture counting towards the 4 Nations Cup semifinals trophy staged in Poland. In the other semifinal, host country team faces Japan. On Saturday, the defeated teams are pitted against each other, while the winners will be pitched against each other as well. In early 2019, the national squad coached by Spaniard Manuel Montoya and the former international handballer Eliodor Voica will have a training session in Slovakia. A tournament will follow suit, with host country Slovakia and the Netherlands taking part. We recall Romanias mens national handball team failed to qualify for the World Championship due in January 2019 and jointly hosted by Germany and Denmark. However, Romanias womens national handball team has already secured their participation in the 2019 edition of the World Championships, to be hosted by Japan. We recall Romania came in 4th at the recently-held European championships in France.

28 December 2018
September 5, 2018

CONSULTATIONS – President Klaus Iohannis has invited the PM Viorica Dancila to consultations on Thursday concerning the forthcoming state budget adjustment. The invitation comes after on Tuesday the head of state suspended the meeting of the Supreme Defence Council on this topic and explained that an agreement had not been reached with the Government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. The President criticised the cuts in the budgets of the intelligence services. In response, the Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici says the Presidents decision will obstruct the payment of salaries, investments and compensations for the African swine fever cases.

PARLIAMENT – The Chamber of Deputies Wednesday rejected a request by the right-wing Opposition to set up 2 inquiry committees, one on the Governments handling of the African swine fever crisis, and another one on the intervention of riot police at the anti-government protests in Bucharest on August 10th. The authors of the request said they wanted to identify the causes for the quick spreading of the disease in Romania and to find out whether certain public institutions were involved in activities beyond their legally defined powers. At present swine fever outbreaks are reported in 11 counties in Romania, triggering the culling of over 140,000 pigs and spreading further, in spite of the measures taken by authorities. On Tuesday the Senates defence committee cancelled the hearings on this topic, at the request of the Social Democratic Party in power. Scheduled to be heard in Parliament were the Interior Minister, Carmen Dan, the coordinator of the gendarme intervention Laurenţiu Cazan, and the Prefect of Bucharest, Speranţa Cliseru. So far 770 people affected by the brutal police intervention during the protests have filed criminal complaints.

ANTI-CORRUPTION – A nomination for the new chief of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate will be announced on Thursday, said the Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader. On Tuesday he interviewed the last 3 candidates for the post, after the interviews of another 3 candidates on Monday. The Justice Minister is to send his proposal to the Higher Council of Magistracy, which is to communicate an official opinion on the candidate, and then the nomination is to be approved by President Klaus Iohannis. The former chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, was dismissed in July, under a presidential order imposed by the Constitutional Court of Romania. The dismissal had been requested by the Justice Minister, further to a report that had not been approved by the Higher Council of Magistracy.

SPORTS MINISTER – The Romanian media hail the appointment of Romanian-born swimmer Roxana Mărăcineanu as the new sports minister in France. She has been living in France since 1984, when her parents fled communist Romania. Aged 43, the athlete born in Bucharest won a silver medal at the 200-m backstroke event of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, when the Romanian Diana Mocanu won the gold. “I felt it was my anthem as well, she said after hearing the Romanian national anthem played at the award ceremony. Two years before, Roxana Maracineanu had won the first world champion title for France, and in 1999 she had won the European swimming championship.

FESTIVAL – Over 100 artists, representing the music and culture of some 70 countries, are taking part in World Experience Festival, held these days in Bucharest. The main theme of the event is World Music, promoted through concerts and workshops such as the ones focusing on Irish dances, the tea ceremony or the kimono dressing ceremony. Music instruments from 30 countries in Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia and so on are also presented. The main stage of the festival is located in one of Bucharests parks.

FORUM – The International Economic Forum carries on in the Polish town of Krynica. Romania is represented by some 50 politicians, analysts and business people. Participants from 60 countries in Europe, Asia and North America are looking at the prospects of world economy, and discuss topics such as the future of Europe, the energy field, international cooperation between EU member countries, the state of the European agriculture, as well as continental security. According to the Radio Romania correspondent, special attention will also be paid to the Black Sea region, where security has been vulnerable since 2014, when Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.

FOOTBALL – Romanias national football team carries on its preparations for the first game in the newly created League of Nations, which it is to play on home turf in Ploiesti against Montenegro on Friday night. On Monday the national team will play against neighbouring Serbia in Belgrade, and in October they will take on Lithuania, also away from home, in Group 4 of the competition. The results in the League of Nations are counting towards the preliminaries of the 2020 European Championship.

(translated by Ana-Maria Popescu)

5 September 2018
December 20, 2017 UPDATE

BUDGET – Romanias President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday said the 2018 draft state budget includes some debatable points. The head of state said he had held talks with PM Mihai Tudose, before the latter made public the draft budget and that they didnt have divergent opinions on the sums of money earmarked for Army and infrastructure. Meanwhile, debates continue in the Parliament of Romania on the 2018 draft budget. After heated talks, MPs approved on Tuesday the funding for 2 ministries and another 7 public institutions, in the amounts proposed by the specialised committees. Romanias state budget for 2018 is based on an expected 5.5% economic growth rate, an exchange rate of 4.55 lei for the euro, average monthly salaries of 565 euros and a budget deficit accounting for 2.97% of the GDP. The main priorities for next year are public healthcare, education and infrastructure. The right-wing opposition has criticised the draft budget, which they view as risky and likely to increase public debt.

JUDICIAL OVERHAUL– The Romanian Senate, as a decision making body, on Wednesday adopted the draft law which changes judicial organisation. The draft on the functioning of the Higher Council of the Magistracy will be voted upon on Thursday, after a first debate, by articles, was held on Wednesday. On Monday, the Senate adopted, also as a decision making body, the law on the Statute of judges and prosecutors. The changes that the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats intends to operate on the justice laws are strongly criticised by civil society and the opposition. Hundreds of magistrates gathered in front of courts of justice around Romania, to protest what they see as a less than transparent process. It is for the first time in recent years that magistrates choose this way to express their disagreement with measures taken by the legislative.

ANNIVERSARY – The Romanian Senate and Chamber of Deputies will organise on Thursday a solemn session devoted to the 28th anniversary of the Romanian Revolution of December 1989, which led to the fall of communism. Timişoara, in western Romania, on Wednesday marked the moment when it proclaimed itself the first Romanian city free from communism. On that day workers went on strike, the Army withdrew to their units and the anti-communist protesters were waiting for other cities to join in the movement. Sparked by the locals opposition to an abusive measure by local authorities, the Revolution spread across the country, culminating on December 22 with the dictators Nicolae and Elena Ceauşescu attempting to flee the capital city. Between December 16 and 25, 1989, more than 1,000 people were killed and nearly 3,400 were wounded. According to the Military Prosecutors Office, the main cause of most of the deaths, injuries and damages was a military diversion orchestrated on the evening of December 22, 1989.

PROTESTS – Romanian police workers on Wednesday protested in front of the Interior Ministry headquarters against the under-funding of the system, and are demanding the resignation of Interior Minister, Carmen Dan. They also complain about the poor logistics and the disastrous state of some police units, as well as the personnel shortage, reaching around 20,000 employees. The Interior Ministry issued a news release, stating that it would take note of the police workers complaints.

TRANSPORT – Thousands of road carriers on Wednesday took to the streets to demand the implementation of the legislative changes promised by Transport Minister Felix Stroe. The respective changes would enable the authorities to fight unauthorised and unlicensed operators such as taxi and rent-a-car companies and providers of occasional or regular rides. On Tuesday the Bucharest City Hall announced measures to eliminate piracy and unauthorised transport companies, but the Confederation of Authorised Operators and Carriers announced protests will continue because the rest of the country is still affected by piracy and unfair competition. In related news, the European Court of Justice ruled that Uber is a transport services company, requiring it to accept stricter regulation and licensing within the EU as a taxi operator. Romania, where Uber has been operating for 3 years, is the companys fifth-largest market in the EU.

POLAND – The European Commission on Wednesday decided, for the first time in the history of the community bloc to launch, against Poland, the procedure which activates article 7 of the EU Treaty, under which “the European Council, acting by a qualified majority, may decide to suspend certain of the rights deriving from the application of the Treaties to the Member State in question, including the voting rights of the representative of the government of that Member State in the Council. According to the Commission, there is a clear risk of a serious breach of the rule of law in Poland, after the Legislature in Warsaw adopted two laws under which it enhances the control of the executive power over the judiciary. The First Vice-President of the EU Commission, Frans Timmermans, has said that was the only option left for the EC and he added that Poland has three months available to implement the recommendations made by the EC. According to a communiqué issued by the Polish Foreign Ministry, Poland has received with regret the political and not the juridical decision made by the EC. This decision bears on the relations between the EC and Poland, and might render difficult the effort of building confidence and mutual understanding between Warsaw and Brussels, the communiqués also reads. (Translated by D. Vijeu and AM Popescu)

20 December 2017
December 11, 2017 UPDATE

KING MICHAEL I — The Parliament of Romania convened in a solemn session on Monday, in the presence of President Klaus Iohannis, to pay tribute to King Michael I. The head of state said in his address that King Michael I symbolised the hope of a reborn and free country, and that His Majesty would forever be remembered as a great leader. The Royal House will continue to deploy all efforts, alongside the state institutions, for the country to advance within the EU and NATO, Princess Margareta, Custodian of the Crown, also said. Attending the Parliament’s solemn session were former presidents Emil Constantinescu and Traian Basescu, Prime Minister Mihai Tudose, the speakers of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu and Liviu Dragnea and Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church. King Michael I died on December 5, at 96 years of age, in Switzerland. Ever since, Romanians have been bringing flowers and candles at the Romanian and Swiss residences of the Royal House. The King’s body will be brought to the country on December 13. The authorities have declared a national mourning on December 14, 15 and 16. King Michael I, the last of Romania’s 4 sovereigns, will be buried on Saturday, December 16, in Curtea de Arges, in the south of the country, where all Romanian royalty are interred. Many Romanian and foreign personalities are expected to attend the funerals. Historians agree that by having the pro-German Marshall Ion Antonescu arrested and having the country join the Allies, Michael I helped shorten WW2 by six months. Forced by the Communists to abdicate in 1947, the ex-King was only allowed to return to Romania after the fall of communism. He was one of the strongest supporters on Romania’s joining NATO and the EU.

CORRUPTION – The Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body, convened in plenary sitting, has decided to make an urgent assessment of the draft laws in the Romanian justice system. According to the Council of Europe’s communiqué on Monday, various institutions and public persons from Romania and from abroad have voiced serious concerns at the fact that these projects might endanger the effectiveness of the battle against corruption and might undermine the independence of the judiciary. This is the first time when GRECO uses this newly introduced regulation. It can be applied when an institutional reform, a legal initiative or a procedural revision can lead to a serious violation, by a member state, of the Council’s anti-corruption standards. Thousands of people took to the streets once again on Sunday night in Bucharest and other major cities, to protest the changes to the justice laws promoted by the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. The protesters say the Power is attempting to have the judiciary subordinated to political circles and to stop the fight against corruption.

LAWS — The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest endorsed on Monday the changes to the status of magistrates proposed by the special parliamentary committee for the justice laws. In keeping with the new provisions, prosecutors become part of a hierarchy topped by the justice minister. Also, the head of state may no longer challenge judge and prosecutor appointments but can still hold his current responsibilities with regard to appointing the prosecutor general and the heads of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and of the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism. The bill will be submitted to the Senate, the decision making body in this case.

BUDGET — The Parliament of Romania begins the debates on the 2018 state budget bill this week. The public budget is based on a 5.5% economic growth rate and earmarks higher funds for healthcare, education, agriculture and investments. The state budget and social security budget bills were distributed on Thursday to the MPs, who had until this morning to submit amendments. The proposals will be discussed by Parliament’s specialised committees starting on Tuesday and will be finalised on Saturday. Debates on the amended texts will begin next Monday in Parliament, with the final vote scheduled on December 21.

STATISTICS — Romania’s trade deficit in the first 10 months of the year was 10.2 billion euros, nearly 2.3 billion euros more than in the corresponding period of 2016, the National Statistics Institute announced. According to the institution, in October, Romania’s exports exceeded 5.7 billion euro, while imports reached 7 billion euros. As compared to October 2016, exports were 13.3% higher, and imports rose by 16.7%. The intra-EU trade accounted for 75.9% of Romania’s total imports and exports in the first 10 months of the year.

ISRAEL — While on a visit to Brussels on Monday, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and said he expected European countries to follow suit. Ahead of a meeting with EU foreign ministers, Netanyahu pointed out that Trump’s decision, condemned by Palestinians and by the European governments, would make Middle East peace possible. He called on Palestinians to recognise Israel as a Jewish state and Jerusalem as its capital. Netanyahu had a meeting on Monday with the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who welcomed the first visit by an Isaraeli PM to the EU in 22 years. She emphasised that the bloc would respect the “international consensus” on the status of Jerusalem and reiterated the Union’s commitment to a two-state solution. The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, says Trump’s recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel threatens to compromise the Israel-Palestinian peace efforts. Street protests against the decision continued in Muslim countries, while the Arab League has called on the US Administration to reverse it, on grounds that it will escalate tensions in the region.

HANDBALL — Romania’s women’s handball team was defeated by the Czech Republic on Monday, 27-28 in the round of 16 of the World Championships in Germany. Romania had won four matches in group A against Paraguay, Slovenia, Spain and Angola and had lost the match against France. Romania won the bronze medal in the previous championship, held in 2015, and is the only team to have taken part in all the 22 world final tournaments in the history of the competition.

(Translated by Elena Enache)

11 December 2017