April 10, 2018

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Newsroom, 10.04.2018, 13:49

AIR TRAFFIC — Air traffic was severely disrupted on Tuesday due to strikes staged by the German flight operator Lufthansa and the national French airliner Air France. Hundreds of flights were cancelled. Lufthansa said most of its cancelled flights are short-distance flights, but as many as 58 long-distance flights were also cancelled. Other protests of public sector employees in Germany and France were staged on Tuesday.

AWARD — Romanian writer Mircea Cartarescu scooped the 2018 International Formentor Award in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in recognition of his literary work. The jury appreciated Cartarescu’s narrative capacity and his vast knowledge of universal culture. The Romanian writer will receive 50,000 euros. Cartarescu said 40 years ago he never imagined his writings would earn veneration and consideration from so many Spanish readers, and thanked his translator and his publishing house. Aged 61, Mircea Cartarescu has written over 30 works that have been translated in 23 languages.

DEFICIT — In the first two months of 2018 Romania’s exports stood at €10.9 billion, while its imports stood at €12.5 billion, the National Institute of Statistics reports. According to the Institute, the trade balance deficit in the first two months of the year was €1.65 billion, by €400 million more than the same period of 2017.

BRODER CROSSING POINTS — Romanians living abroad who spent Easter at home are returning to the countries they work in, and Romania’s western border crossing points are starting to get crowded. To avoid overcrowding, the Romanian Border Police has brought in more people. Drivers heading to these borders can use an online app to see the average waiting time for each border crossing point, so they can choose the least crowded checkpoint.

DISCHARGE — Yulia Skripal, daughter of the former Russian spy Sergey Srkipal, who was targeted in Salisbury by a nerve agent attack, was discharged from hospital. Aged 33, the woman was taken to a safe location. Her father remains hospitalized, and doctors say his condition is improving fast. On March 4, the two were found unconscious in Salisbury, some 100 kilometers from London. The UK blames Russia for this military-grade nerve-agent attack, while Moscow has denied the accusations. The case has stirred a wave of unprecedented mutual expulsions between Russia and Western countries, involving as many as 300 diplomats.

UBER — The European Union Court of Justice on Tuesday ruled that Member States may prohibit and punish, as a matter of criminal law, the illegal exercise of transport activities in the context of the UberPOP service, without notifying the Commission in advance of the draft legislation, France Press and Reuters report. The case concerned Uber’s use of unlicensed drivers as part of its UberPOP service in France, which has since been suspended there and in several other cities, and therefore will not affect Uber’s operations in the country. Tuesday’s ruling follows the December 2017 ruling of the court, when the EUCJ classified Uber as an ordinary transportation company instead of an app and should be regulated as such. Uber was founded in 2009 in the United States, and has been operating in Romania since February 2015, first in Bucharest and gradually expanding to Cluj, Brasov and Timisoara. There are over 450,000 registered Uber users in Romania, mostly in Bucharest. Romania is Uber’s second-largest market in Central and Eastern Europe after Poland.

MOTION — The Senate today debates a simple motion against European Funds Minister Rovana Plumb, filed by MPs with the National Liberal Party and the People’s Movement Party in opposition. The signatories of the motion warn that the situation of sectoral operational programs is extremely serious, from the prospect of the very low amount of the refunds the European Commission is giving Romania at present. The rate of absorption for the 2014-2020 period was 10% at the end of 2017. The opposition claims Romania has a good chance of developing and truly becoming a European nation, with a living standard equal to other states in Western Europe. This chance is given only by European funds, which can help improve Romanians’ quality of life.

(Translated by V. Palcu)