Newsflash, June 21
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Roxana Vasile, 21.06.2013, 00:00
The EU Council abrogated on Friday the excessive deficit procedure for Romania, as the excessive deficit has been corrected and will continue to go down in 2013 and 2014, after falling below the reference value of 3% of the GDP, recommended by the European Union. A similar measure was taken for Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Hungary. At the moment there is an Excessive Deficit Procedure ongoing for 16 out of the 27 member states. Most procedures have been opened following the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. The European Union estimates that Romania’s GDP will go down to 2.6% this year and will stand at 2.4% in 2014.
In Romania, in the first quarter of the year the unemployment rate was 7.5%, with a 58% employment rate among people between 15 and 64 years of age, the National Statistics Institute announced on Friday. For the 20 to 64 age bracket, the employment rate was little over 62%, below the national target of 70% defined in the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy. Unemployment rates were higher among women and among the rural population.
China and the European Union have agreed to resolve their dispute over solar panels with talks concerning price guarantees. The Chinese Trade Minister, Gao Hucheng announced. The statement was made after a ministerial level meeting of the two parties. The European Commission announced in early June that it would levy provisional taxes on the Chinese solar panels, and Beijing responded with an antidumping inquiry into the wines imported from the European Union.
The George Enescu Square in central Bucharest venues, until June the 30th, the 8th edition of the Bucharest Music Film Festival. For 10 days music lovers can attend, free of charge, recitals and classical music concerts under the batons of renowned conductors, screenings of documentaries, opera shows and ballet. The Radio Romania Orchestra will give a concert on Saturday.
The Romanian Irina Begu and the Spanish Anabel Medina won the women’s doubles of the WTA tour in s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. In the same competition another Romanian, Simona Halep, made it to the women’s singles after defeating the Spanish Carla Suarez-Navarro on Friday , 6-3, 6-2. On Saturday, Simona Halep will play against Kirten Flikpens of Belgium. In another move, Romania’s representatives in the European Fencing Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, athlets Ana Maria Branza, Simona Pop Deac and Maria Udrea won the silver medal on Friday.
Head of the Romanian Football Federation, Mircea Sandu, on Friday said that Steaua Bucharest stands 50% chances not to receive sanctions imposed by UEFA. An disciplinary commission of the European body convened on Friday to look into the corruption suspicions concerning Romania’s football champions Steaua Bucharest. UEFA opened an investigation after Steaua’s owner, George Becali, was sentenced to prison for bribe-giving in a case dating back to 2008. At that time Becali tried to give 1.7 million euros to a team from Cluj, in exchange for their defeating Steaua’s challengers in the championship. UEFA has no tolerance for corruption cases and if found guilty the Romanian football club risks being excluded from European competitions for one or several years. A decision in this respect is expected on June 24th at the soonest.
