Radio România Internațional

Tag: WTO

  • April 24, 2020 UPDATE

    April 24, 2020 UPDATE

    Covid-19 Romania — Another 15 people infected with the new coronavirus have died in Romania, taking the death toll to 567 — the Strategic Communication Group informed on Friday evening. The victims are 10 men and 5 women aged between 36 and 97. The total number of infections exceeded 10,400. 2,800 patients have recovered. Abroad, as many as 1,500 Romanian citizens have been confirmed with Covid-19 infection, and 70 have died.



    IMF— The IMF and the World Trade Organization warned on Friday that the restrictions imposed on exports may be dangerously counterproductive when the world is in the grips of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. In a joint statement, the two international bodies are calling for caution in imposing such restrictions, expressing their concern with the drop in the funds needed for ensuring imports of sanitary materials and foodstuffs to the countries that need them most. Export restrictions disturb supply chains, affect production and limit access to basic products, the IMF and WTO representatives claim. All over the world 2.7 million people have been infected with Covid-19 and the number of deaths is nearing 200 thousand. Europe reports most of the deaths, with Italy, Spain and France exceeding the threshold of 20 thousand deaths, and Great Britain is coming from behind. However, the situation is beginning to stabilize in many parts of Europe and more and more governments are talking about gradual relaxation of restrictions.



    Loans – As many as 260 thousand individuals and about 10 thousand companies from Romania that are bank customers have so far applied for suspension of loan payments. This means 17% of the loans granted to individuals and under 10% of the total loans granted to legal entities, shows data centralized by the Romanian Banks Association. So far 175 thousand applications have been solved, with the rest being currently processed. Applications may be applied by customers whose incomes have been affected directly or indirectly by the general situation created by the coronavirus pandemic.



    Economy — The Romanian economy minister, Virgil Popescu, said in an interview to the American channel Bloomberg that the coronavirus pandemic affected one third of Romania’s economy, especially tourism and the car industry. He said however that once activity is resumed, Romania will not have a higher budget deficit, as European experts expect. The Romanian economy minister said that industrial production should be re-structured, with the government focusing on those sectors that proved to have a potential ahead of the crisis: energy, petrochemical industry and defense. The Bloomberg journalists quote economic pundits as saying that Romania is going to be one of the hardest hit European countries by the economic crisis, with an expected deficit of 7.5% of the GDP this year.



    Handball – Romania’s women’s handball team was directly qualified to the 2020 European Championship scheduled in Norway and Denmark in December, after the other matches in the preliminary round were cancelled by the Executive Committee of the European Handball Federation. Gathered in a videoconference on Friday the European Federation announced the other teams that qualified to the final tournament namely France, Russia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary, Montenegro, Germany, Serbia, Spain, Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Croatia along the host countries. Of the current qualification stage, 4 rounds remained un-played, with Romania having already won two matches in a group which also includes Poland, Ukraine and the Faeroe Islands. Also the European playoffs have been cancelled counting for the World Men’s Championship of 2021. (tr. L. Simion)

  • February 22, 2019 UPDATE

    February 22, 2019 UPDATE

    BUDGET The Constitutional Court of Romania has announced that on March 6th it will discuss the notification filed by President Klaus Iohannis against the 2019 state budget law. On Friday, the head of state notified the Constitutional Court over the state budget bill submitted for his promulgation. He described the bill as unrealistic and over-optimistic, and dismissed it as a national disgrace. There are unconstitutional elements in this law, the President said, such as failure to comply with commitments taken within the EU and violation of fundamental rights. Iohannis lashed out at the Social Democratic Party, the senior partner in the ruling coalition in Romania, which he said is unable to govern the country and only rules to the benefit of its leader, Liviu Dragnea. Klaus Iohannis also said political parties are getting too much money, public education is under-funded, and Romania has been in turmoil, particularly since an ordinance was passed in late 2018 modifying the justice laws. According to the President, the entire ruling term of the Social Democrats has been an assault on the rule of law in Romania. In response, the Senate Speaker, Calin Popescu Tariceanu (ALDE, also in the ruling coalition) said the Presidents sending the budget bill to the Constitutional Court is unwarranted and ill-timed. He added the President is “harassing the Cabinet and trying to prevent its work.




    JUDICIARY In several cities in Romania, magistrates protested on Friday against the changes to the justice laws introduced by a government emergency decree, and called for independence of the judiciary. They also announced they would suspend their work for several days, and said only urgent cases would be tried. The changes operated by the left-of-centre Government concern, among other things, the appointment of senior prosecutors and the powers of the special division investigating offences committed by magistrates. The emergency decree has been criticised both in Brussels, by the European Commission, and in Romania, by magistrate associations, by the prosecutor division of the Higher Council of Magistrates, and by the right-wing Opposition.




    TRADE The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is in a difficult situation at the moment, and swift action is needed for the entity not to fall apart, the EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said on Friday in Bucharest. In turn, the Romanian Minister for the Business Environment, Ştefan-Radu Oprea, said that promoting free trade under the WTO aegis remains a priority for the EU, and member states have voiced their willingness to start negotiations on e-commerce. He added that, with respect to trade relations between the EU and the USA, stakeholders are trying to maintain a positive bilateral agenda and to adopt as quickly as possible the negotiating directives on conformity assessment and the liberalisation of trade in industrial products. EU trade ministers convened on Friday in Bucharest to discuss the modernisation of the WTO and the trade relations between the European bloc and the US.




    CONGRESS Cluj Napoca (in north-western Romania) is hosting the congress of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, the main political party representing the 1.5-million strong Hungarian community in Romania. Attending the event are over 900 delegates, who will elect the new party president. The incumbent leader, Hunor Kelemen, is the only candidate, and is running for a 3rd term in office. Before the congress, Hunor Kelemen told a press conference that in his opinion the main task ahead is for the party to define a general framework for the political decisions to be made in the future. The delegates will also discuss the new economic platform of the organisation and the list of candidates for the European Parliament elections. Another topic on the agenda is the collaboration between the Union, which supports the ruling coalition in Romania, and the other Romanian parties. Represented in Parliament without interruptions since 1990, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians has been a member of many coalition governments in Romania.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • October 3, 2018 UPDATE

    October 3, 2018 UPDATE

    MEETING European Commission experts held talks in
    Bucharest on Wednesday with a delegation of the Public Ministry led by general
    prosecutor Augustin Lazar as part of the periodic information missions within
    the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification (CVM). According to a communique
    issued by the General Prosecutor’s Office, the main issues under discussion
    were the setting up of a section for the investigation of the crimes in the
    country’s legal system as well as the amendments to the Penal and Penal
    Procedure Codes and to Romania’s justice laws. We recall the European
    Commission has been monitoring the latest developments in Romania’s legal
    system since the country’s EU accession in 2007.










    WTO In the first semester of the next
    year, Romania and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are to be staging in
    Geneva a conference on entrepreneurial issues, the Bucharest-based Ministry for
    Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship announced on Wednesday. The
    decision was made during the meeting the Romanian field minister Stefan Radu
    Oprea had in Geneva with Roberto Carvalho de Azevedo director general of the
    World Trade Organization. The event will be unfolding under the aegis of the EU
    presidency Romania is to hold in the first semester of 2019.








    LAWS The offshore law, regulating gas exploitation in
    the Black Sea, was debated upon Wednesday in the Chamber of Deputies’ plenary
    sitting, that decided to send it back to the expert committees. The Social
    Democratic Party’s deputies introduced some important changes to the law adopted by the Senate last week. These amendments have been criticized by the opposition MPs
    as well as by deputies of the coalition partner ALDE. Oil companies
    have expressed concern about the new offshore law, saying that it may
    discourage new investment in the Black Sea. This
    is the second time this law is being voted. The Parliament initially adopted
    the offshore law in early July, but president Klaus Iohannis sent it back for
    review.






    PROTESTS Hundreds of trade unionists
    from the Romanian penitentiaries protested in front of the Justice Ministry’s
    headquarters on Wednesday, against the poor working conditions and the unpaid
    overtime. They say their protest is also against the indolence and
    incompetence of the Justice Minister Tudorel Toader, and ask for the
    resignation of the general director appointed unlawfully.








    RULING Romania’s
    Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected a notification submitted by the
    country’s president Klaus Iohannis, regarding the modifications to the Law on
    the Romanian territory’s administrative organisation, Agerpres news agency
    reports. Iohannis had signaled the presence of some major dirfferences in terms
    of legal content, between the versions passed by the two Parliament chambers.

    (translated by bill)

  • Nach US-Wirtschaftssanktionen: Europa rückt enger zusammen

    Nach US-Wirtschaftssanktionen: Europa rückt enger zusammen

    Die Europäische Kommission ist verpflichtet, die europäischen Gesellschaften zu schützen. Jetzt müssen wir handeln“, sagte der Präsident der Europäischen Kommission, Jean-Claude Juncker, vor der Einleitung des Verfahrens des Blockierungsgesetzes Blocking Statute“, dessen Ziel ist, die äu‎ßeren Auswirkungen der amerikanischen Sanktionen auf europäische Gesellschaften, die in dem Iran investieren möchten, zu neutralisieren. Es handelt sich um einer europäische Verordnung von 1996, die damals erarbeitet wurde, um dem Embargo gegen Cuba entgegenzuwirken. Letztendlich kam diese nicht mehr zum Einsatz, denn die Streitigkeiten wurden auf politischer Ebene geschlichtet.



    Das besagte Gesetz rückt nun wieder in den Vordergrund, infolge des Beschlusses der USA, sich aus dem Atomabkommen mit dem Iran zurückzuziehen. Es muss bis zum 6. August verabschiedet werden, wenn die ersten Sanktionen, die neulich in Washington festgelegt wurden, in Kraft treten werden. Das sogenannte Blockierungsgesetz gestattet es den europäischen Gesellschaften und Institutionen, sich den Sanktionen, die gegen ein Drittland getroffen wurden, nicht anzuschlie‎ßen. Au‎ßerdem schreibt es vor, dass kein Urteil, das von ausländischen Gerichten aufgrund dieser Regelungen gefällt wurde, in der EU zur Anwendung kommt. Es handelt sich um den Schutz der internationalen Unternehmen, in die auch europäische Partner involviert sind, vor der amerikanischen Verwaltung, erläuterte der Europaabgeordnete Iuliu Winkler:



    Die Vereinigten Staaten verlassen den Multilateralismus. Die Vereinigten Staaten sind gerade dabei, die Welthandelsorganisation (WTO) anzugreifen. Sie sind über die WTO unzufrieden, sie sind über die multilateralen Handelsabkommen unzufrieden, in denen die Vereinigten Staaten, meint Präsident Trump, von ihren globalen Partnern über den Tisch gezogen worden wären. Nun ziehen sich die Vereinigten Staaten aus einem meiner Meinung nach äu‎ßerst wichtigen multilateralen Abkommen für den Mittleren Osten zurück. Dieser ganze Angriff auf den Multilateralismus bedeutet eigentlich, wie auch die amerikanischen Analytiker gesagt haben, eine Taktik des einsamen Cowboys, die Präsident Trump verfolgt. Der Multilateralismus ist wesentlich für Europa und für die Europäische Union, sowohl was den Handel und die Wirtschaft als auch die internationalen geopolitischen oder strategischen Beziehungen anbelangt. Denken Sie nur daran, was im letzten Jahrhundert das Europa des Individualismus bedeutet hat. Natürlich wollen wir nicht dorthin zurückkehren. Selbstverständlich wollen wir in Europa sein, natürlich mit einem etwas anderen Akzent von der Kanzlerin Merkel, mit einem lebhafteren, jüngeren Akzent vonseiten des Präsidenten Macron. Wir möchten auf globaler Ebene lernen. Wir möchten unter allen Bedingungen und mit allen Mitteln, die uns zur Verfügung stehen, für die Erhaltung des Multilateralismus kämpfen.“




    Brüssel hat au‎ßerdem beschlossen, der Europäischen Investitionsbank zur gestatten, die Investitionen der europäischen Gesellschaften im Iran zu fördern. Gleichzeitig erhielt die Kommission ihre Zusammenarbeit mit diesem Staat aufrecht. Es gibt keine Alternativlösung zum Abkommen mit dem Iran“, erklärte die Chefin der europäischen Diplomatie Federica Mogherini. Dies sagte sie als Antwort auf die Ansprache ihres amerikanischen Gegenübers Mike Pompeo, der 12 drastische Bedingungen aufgelistet hat, um ein neues Abkommen mit Teheran abzuschlie‎ßen, das jenes von 2015 ersetzen soll. Das letztere sieht die Einschränkung des iranischen Atomprogramms als Gegenleistung für die Aufhebung der Sanktionen vor. Alle in der Europäischen Union teilen den Gedanken, dass das Abkommen nicht perfekt ist. Dennoch müssen wir dieses Abkommen beibehalten und die Verhandlungen mit dem Iran zu anderen Themen sowie das Programm für ballistische Raketen fortsetzen“, erklärte für die Presse auch die deutsche Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel.



    Nach einer Bewertung der Entscheidung der Europäischen Union im Verhältnis zu jener des Präsidenten im Wei‎ßen Haus ist Adrian Mitroi, Professor für internationale Beziehungen an der Bukarester Wirtschaftsakademie, der Meinung, dass ein Gleichgewicht in Europa zwischen dem kommerziellen und dem geostrategischen Interesse sehr schwer zu erreichen sei. Wir betreten eine sehr interessante und voraussichtlich wirtschaftlich kritische Zone, schätzt Professor Mitroi, eine Zone, in der der Druck sich offensichtlich auf den Preis des Ölbarrels auswirkt. Die unmittelbare Konsequenz ist eine Verlangsamung der Wirtschaft. In dieser Berechnung dürfen wir die Abhängigkeit Europas von dem russischen Erdgas nicht vergessen und die Tatsache, dass sich Amerika diesen Handelsbeziehungen widersetzt. Kann die Europäische Union hoffen, dass sie zu einem Machtpol des Planeten an der Seite der USA, Russlands, Chinas wird? Professor Adrian Mitroi zeigt sich eher skeptisch.



    Ehrlich glaube ich das nicht, weil die EU in der Au‎ßenpolitik sehr viel an Stärke verloren hat. Europa spielt nicht mehr mit in der globalen Au‎ßenpolitik. Wirtschaftlich ist sie au‎ßerdem zerbrechlich. Der amerikanische Kontinent hat es sehr gut geschafft. Die Europäische Union verfügt nicht über eine gemeinsame Staatskasse und somit sind die Politikleitlinien leicht verschiedenphasig. Hier sind wir auch gegen einen stärkeren Dollar oder gegen höhere Zinsen für den Dollar empfindlich. Die Tatsache, dass wir uns in vollem Umbildungsprozess der EU befinden und dass jetzt sekundär auch die Wirtschaft eine Rolle spielt, die gemeinsame Staatskasse, all diese guten Dinge hätten uns mehr Stärke verliehen. So verlieren wir an Geschwindigkeit.“

  • July 5, 2017 UPDATE

    July 5, 2017 UPDATE

    SUMMIT – On Thursday, Romanias president Klaus Iohannis is attending a summit of the Three Seas Initiative, namely the Baltic Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea, hosted by Warsaw. The heads of state and representatives from 11 other Central and Eastern European countries, namely Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary, are taking part. The US president Donald Trump will also attend the summit as a special guest. The purpose of the Initiative is to provide political support for the cooperation and interconnection between the economies of the countries in the geographical area bordered by the three seas in fields such as energy, transport, telecommunications and environmental protection.



    EMA – Relocating to Bucharest the European Medicines Agency, EMA, continues to be a major objective of the Bucharest government, says PM Mihai Tudose, in a press release issued by the cabinet on Wednesday. According to the aforementioned source, the prime minister called on the Health Ministry and the National Medicines Agency, in their capacity as institutions with responsibilities in preparing Romanias candidacy file for relocating the EMA to Bucharest, to finalise this file, so as to observe the deadline set at European level, namely July 31. Last month, after the summer European Council in Brussels, President Klaus Iohannis said, in his turn, that the new cabinet should secure an agreement on relocating the EMA, after Brexit, from Great Britain to Romania. Other countries willing to host EMA include France, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary and Bulgaria, which have already forwarded their offers.



    BACCALAUREATE – 71.4 % of the Romanian high-school graduates passed this years first session of the baccalaureate exam, the education minister Liviu Pop announced on Wednesday. He recalled that last year only 66.7% of the high-school students passed the exam. Pop also said less than 10 high schools in Romania reported that no candidate passed the exam. The counties with the highest performance rates are Sibiu (in the centre), Bacau, Iasi (both in the north-east) and Cluj in the west, with over 80%, whereas the lowest rates were registered in Ilfov – 42% and Giurgiu – 50% (both in the south). Raluca Turcan, first vice-president of the National Liberal Party, in opposition, has noted that this year 70,000 high-school pupils add to other 800,000 high school pupils who do not hold a diploma either because they failed to pass the baccalaureate exam or they dropped out high-school. Turcan says the results of the baccalaureate exam show the authorities must take urgent measures to support the education system.



    PUBLIC MEDIA SERVICES – The Constitutional Court of Romania says it will discuss, on the 12th of July, a complaint by the main opposition party, the National Liberal Party, in respect of an amendment to the law regulating the activity of the public radio and television services. The National Liberal Party says the law irremediably compromises the statutes, organization and activity of these two autonomous public services of national interest. The Liberals also say the law does not clarify the legal status of the two services given the change in the way they are funded following the elimination of a number of duties at the beginning of the year. They moreover argue that the new law eliminates the states constitutional obligation to consolidate ties with the Romanians living abroad from an identity, ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious point of view following the repeal of an article providing funding for the production and broadcast of programmes for the Diaspora. This, in the Liberals opinion, will lead to a blocking of the activity of Radio Romania International and TVR International. The law in question was adopted on the 20th of June by the Senate, the decision-making body in this case.



    WTO – Romania will continue to promote the multilateral trading system, the elimination of barriers hampering free trade and the elimination of discriminatory treatment in international commerce, Romanian foreign minister Teodor Melescanu said in Bucharest on Wednesday, in a meeting with the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, Ricardo Azevedo. Melescanu assured the WTO official of Romanias support during his term in office as Director General of the organization. In turn, Azevedo hailed the evolution of the Romanian economy and encouraged the promotion of investment, particularly in education and infrastructure, as well as fiscal stability, which can be instrumental in making the Romanian market attractive for investors, and in reducing regional gaps. Set up in 1995 and having Romania among its founding members, WTO is an international institution which establishes international trading regulations.



    VISIT – The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Liviu Dragnea, will pay a visit to Israel next week, at the invitation of the Speaker of the Knesset, Yuli-Yoel Edelstein. According to a memorandum endorsed by the Standing Bureau of the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday, Dragnea will travel to Israel over July 11-13, and the delegation accompanying him will be made up of five other deputies and a senator. According to a communiqué issued by the Chamber of Deputies, the visit brings into the spotlight the common wish to develop bilateral relations between the two countries and to boost dialogue at parliamentary level.



    G20 – The G20 summit taking place on Friday and Saturday in Hamburg may turn out to be one of the most conflicting since the creation of this forum, with bilateral tensions being fed by the international developments and essential disagreements with the US president Donald Trump, the France Presse news agency notes. According to the agency, the talks between Trump and the Chinese president Xi Jinping are set to be difficult following the launch of North Koreas first intercontinental missile on Tuesday, seen as a provocation to America on its national day. China, which is North Koreas main ally, said earlier that its relationship with the US had been affected by “some negative factors, after a US war ship sailed close to an island claimed by China. Hamburg will also host the first meeting between Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, with the latter expected to propose the normalisation of relations between the two countries, relationships that have been strongly affected by the crisis in Ukraine, the war in Syria and accusations of Russias interference in the American elections. The France Presse also notes that the relations between Germany and Turkey have continued to deteriorate after a failed coup against president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July last year. Turkey became even more vexed with Germany when the latter rejected a request from Ankara that Erdogan be allowed to address members of the ethnic Turkish community living in Germany on the sidelines of the G20 summit.