20 March, 2019

A roundup of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 20.03.2019, 13:55

EU. The Romanian prime minister
Viorica Dancila is today due to meet the First Vice-President of the European
Commission Frans Timmermans as part of her official visit to Brussels. Dancila
will co-chair, together with the president of the European Council and the head
of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker the spring Tripartite Social Summit, whose theme is For a stronger, united and forward-looking Europe.
The talks will focus on three areas: 50 years of labour mobility, delivering
investments in a deeper and fairer single market and building on the initiative
A new start for social dialogue to shape the new world of work.

Negotiations. The first
round of talks is held today between the European Parliament and the Council of
the European Union about the appointment of the European chief public prosecutor,
with the former head of Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate Laura
Codruta Kovesi being a candidate for this position. The information was
confirmed for the Agerpres news agency by a press officer of the European
Parliament. If the negotiation teams fail to reach an agreement, more talks will
be held on the 27th of March, 4th of April and 10th
of April. Recently, the president of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani
sent the minister delegate for the European affairs in Bucharest George Ciamba,
as representative of the presidency of the Council of the EU, an official
letter informing him that Laura Codruta Kovesi is the candidate of the European
Parliament for the position of European chief public prosecutor. The Council of
the European Union supports Jean-Francois Bohnert of France for the position.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which is to be established by the end
of 2020, will be an independent body responsible for investigating, indicting
and bringing to justice fraud against the EU budget. The European chief public
prosecutor will serve a single 7-year term.

Francophonie. International Francophonie Day is celebrated today, 26
years since Romania’s accession to the Francophone movement. On this occasion,
minister Teodor Melescanu said Francophonie is a system of values and cultural references
on which modern Romania was built. On the 20th of March, 88 members,
associates and observers of the International Organisation of La Francophonie from
five continents celebrate the International Francophonie Day, a moment that
marks the creation of institutional Francophonie in 1970 by the signing of the
Treaty of Niamey. Francophone and Francophile Romania has been a full-fledged member
of the International Organisation of La Francophonie since 1993. In 2006, it
hosted the 11th Francophone Summit. The Romanian Cultural Institute
through its branches abroad is holding a series of events these days to
celebrate the Francophonie.
Between December 2018 and July 2019, Bucharest and Paris are hosting the
Romania-France cultural season, which emphasises contemporary arts and culture,
as well as education, economy, sports and tourism. The programme features 300
different events taking place in both Romania and France.

Poll. Romanians are more pessimistic
about the direction their country is taking and more optimistic about that of
Europe, according to INSCOP Research, which has conducted a nationwide poll between
the 5th and the 13th of March commissioned by the Konrad
Adenauer Foundation. 72.8% of respondents say their country is going in the
wrong direction, 17.8% say it’s going in the right direction and 9.4% don’t
know or chose not to answer. According to the poll, compared with last year, significantly
more Romanians believe things in Europe are going in the right direction, namely
46.7%, while 35.3% believe Europe is going in the wrong direction. 17.9% did
not answer.

Pope visit. The authorities in
Bucharest are preparing for the visit Pope Francis will be paying to Romania, a
majority Orthodox country, between the 31st of May and the 2nd
of June. A national operative command centre has been set up within the
management of the defence, public order and national security institutions that
will coordinate the necessary security measures. Given the large number of
people expected to take part in the events to be held in Bucharest, Iasi, Blaj
and Sumuleu Ciuc, working meetings have already been held with the local
authorities to make sure normal activities take place without special
disruptions. It is possible that during his visit Pope Francis may hold the
beatification ceremony of seven Romanian Greek-Catholic bishops who were
victims of the communist dictatorship.

No-confidence vote. The Chamber of
Deputies in Bucharest has today rejected a simple no-confidence motion against
the finance minister Eugen Teodorovici. The motion was debated on Monday, but
the opposition asked for the repeal of Emergence Order 114, a piece of
legislation that has also come under criticism from the business environment
because of the tax measures it introduces. The finance minister has rejected
the idea of repealing the order, underlining that its purpose is to protect
vulnerable consumers. He said, however, that changes would be made by the end
of the month with respect to the application of duties on energy,
telecommunications and banking companies. The Chamber of Deputies has also
rejected a simple no-confidence motion against the justice minister Tudorel Toader,
who has been criticised by the opposition for his activity and the changes he made
to the justice laws and by some of the ruling MPs for the changes he hasn’t
made.