January 21, 2014
A roundup of domestic and international news
Bogdan Matei, 21.01.2014, 12:00
Romanian President Traian Basescu, has today met in Ramallah with the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Previously, Basescu, who is on a formal visit to Israel, held talks with his counterpart, Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials During the talks he pleaded for a sustainable peace in the Middle East. More on this after the news.
The Romanian Foreign Minister, Titus Corlatean, has today stated in Brussels that sending political messages of support for the Republic of Moldova, the neighboring country with a predominantly Romanian — speaking population, is important for this country to keep the path to Europe. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Corlatean has invited his European counterparts and other EU officials to attend the proceedings of the European Action Group for the Republic of Moldova, which will be held in Brussels in February 2014 and will be chaired jointly by Romania and France. Alongside his EU counterparts, Corlatean attended in Brussels the Foreign Affairs Council.
This year, Romania’s economic growth will stand at 2.4%, thanks to exports and the demand on the domestic markets, shows a report published today by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).According to the bank, the main risks to growth are bad loans, which exceed 20% of the total loans, and the drop in cross-border financing by foreign banks. The report also reads that Romania’s economic growth prospects are limited by the difficult situation of the Eurozone. Last year, EBRD invested 510 million Euros in Romania, participating in 32 projects. The overall value of EBRD investments in Romania is 6.4 billion Euros.
Romania has made progress in many fields, but there are still worries regarding the independence of the judiciary, reads the report on the Romanian justice system drawn under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for Romania, Agerpres reports. In the document, the EC recommends MPs to observe the independence of the judiciary and court rulings. The report will be published tomorrow and will include an assessment of the progress made by Romania since the latest report, drawn up in January last year, the EC spokesman Mark Gray has stated. We recall that both Romania and Bulgaria have been monitored since their accession to the EU in 2007.
Italy, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands are on top of the list of countries preferred by the Romanians who chose to work abroad, shows a survey conducted by Operations Research in June 2013. According to the study, 12% of the Romanians worked abroad for a period longer than three months and, of them, one third worked in Italy. Asked whether they intend to go to work in an EU country in the next six months, they opted for Germany, then Italy, great Britain, Spain, France and the Netherlands. On January 1st 2014 the labour market for Romanians and Bulgarians was fully opened, and fears voiced by British tabloids regarding a so called invasion of Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants have not been confirmed.
A joint IMF, WB and EC mission is assessing in Bucharest the stand by agreement signed last year. According to IMF representatives, the talks focus on recent economic developments and structural reform priorities. Another topic on the agenda regards the identification of necessary means to compensate for the revenues that have not reached the state budget because of the postponement of the additional excise duty on fuel. According to Prime Minister Victor Ponta talks on this matter are premature, as the situation of revenues will only be clear after six months. The Prime Minister has also stated that the level of contributions to the social insurance fund will probably drop on July 1st and the tax on reinvested profits will most likely be eliminated.
