April 8, 2015 UPDATE
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Corina Cristea, 08.04.2015, 12:17
Over 400 thousand young people from Romania will be benefiting from counseling and subsidies in order to find and keep a decent job for a longer period of time, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said in Bucharest upon the launching of an EU-funded programme called ‘Youth Guarantee’ aimed at curbing unemployment among youngsters. The European Commission made available 470 million euros for this programme, the Prime Minister went on to say. The event was also attended by the European Commission’s Vice President for the Euro and Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis, who paid a visit to Bucharest on Wednesday. The EU official had earlier held talks with Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu about the cooperation between the new European Commission, at the beginning of a mandate, and Romania. The two officials also exchanged opinions on the EU economic and social priorities including from the perspective of the 2020 strategy goals and the unfolding of the European Semester.
Greece didn’t call for financiar assistance from Russia, Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday upon the meeting he held in Moscow with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Putin announced that Greece and Russia adopted a joint action plan for 2015 and 2016 agreeing to attach more attention to cooperation in terms of investment. Tsipras’ visit to Moscow, taking place against the background of the tense relations both countries are having with the EU, comes a day before Greece’s shelling out 450 million euros in payment to the IMF as part of the bailout plan agreed upon with international lenders. According to experts, Athens makes efforts for improving its relations with Moscow in case negotiations with Western lenders could reach a deadlock. In another development, the Greek Prime Minister said he wasn’t a supporter of the EU’s policy of leveling sanctions against Russia, for the latter’s actions in Ukraine.
The Republic of Moldova needs more than ever a clear EU accession perspective, given the Ukrainian conflict, Moldovan Foreign Minister Natalia Gherman told France Press. Less than two months before the Eastern Partnership Summit in Riga, Chisinau insists that the EU doors should remain open for Ukraine, Moldova, Byelorussia, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Joining the EU would be for Moldova the best way to reunify the former Soviet republic, which includes the breakaway region of Transdniester, France Press reports. Chisinau signed the Association and free trade agreement with the EU last year.
The members of Romania’s Parliament changed the institution’s Rules of Procedure, to the effect that the prosecution, detention or pre-trial arrest of a Deputy or Senator may be approved on the vote of the majority of MPs attending the meeting in which the prosecutors’ request is discussed. This change brings Parliament’s Rules of Procedure in line with the Constitution, as the Constitutional Court had instructed.
As of June 1st, in Romania, food products, non-alcoholic drinks and restaurant services will be cheaper. The Government decided on Tuesday to slash the VAT from 24 to 9% for these categories, six months before the new Fiscal Code takes effect. PM Victor Ponta says the measure will encourage domestic producers to charge competitive prices. An argument for the early introduction of this measure was that in Romania, food costs account for the largest share of a household’s expenses of all EU countries
