June 4, 2019 UPDATE

President Iohannis holds consultations on implementing the outcome of the May 26 referendum

Newsroom, 04.06.2019, 20:05

REFERENDUM President Klaus Iohannis initiated consultations with parliamentary parties on implementing the outcome of the May 26 referendum on the judiciary. On Tuesday the head of state had talks with the National Liberal Party, Save Romania Union and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. The Liberals announced they support any other initiatives required for the decision expressed by citizens in the referendum to be put into practice. The Liberal leader Ludovic Orban believes public debates on the justice laws should be resumed. The Save Romania Union leader Dan Barna emphasised that the constitutional reform should be broader, and include additional aspects to the ones covered by the referendum. The head of the Union of Ethnic Hungarians, Kelemen Hunor, also supports amending the Constitution to ban emergency ordinances in this field. On Wednesday, the President will have meetings with the Peoples Movement Party, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the national minorities group and the Social Democratic Party. Over 80% of the participants in the justice referendum, held concurrently with the EP elections, agreed that corruption offences must no longer be subject to amnesty and pardon, and that the Government must no longer pass emergency orders in the justice field.

EU The PM of Romania Viorica Dăncilă had talks in Brussels on Tuesday with the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and first vice-president Frans Timmermans about the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU, which comes to an end within a month. According to a news release issued by the Romanian Government, Juncker thanked the Romanian official for the excellent work of the Romanian presidency, which closed over 100 dossiers, including the ones on the European Border Police and Coast Guard, the European Labour Authority, the Copyright Directive and the EU Gas Directive. The two EU officials also appreciated the Romanian Governments commitment not to move on with the controversial reforms in the judiciary and to resume dialogue under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism. The outcome of the May 26 elections for the European Parliament was also discussed during the meeting.

AGRICULTURE The Romanian Agriculture Minister, Petre Daea, chaired on Tuesday in Bucharest an informal meeting of the EU agriculture and fisheries ministers. Petre Daea told a press conference at the end of the meeting that research and bio-economy are key priorities in agriculture, because they enable EU farmers to meet the increasingly tough standards introduced by the Common Agricultural Policy, especially in terms of environment protection and climate. In turn, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan says the new CAP will earmark more money for small and medium farms in the EU, and the endorsement of a bio-economy strategy will help create around 1 million jobs in the next 10-12 years in the EU. On Monday in Bucharest Phil Hogan had a meeting with PM Viorica Dăncilă, the agenda including a legislative package aimed to reform the CAP as of 2020. According to Hogan, the European Commission has earmarked 10 billion euros for bio-economy and the development of natural resources for 2021 – 2027.

VISIT The US President Donald Trump, who is on a state visit to London, had talks with PM Theresa May on Tuesday. Trump promised that the UK may get a “phenomenal trade agreement with the US after Brexit, and praised Mays handling of the Brexit negotiations. On Monday the US President took part in a banquet at the Buckingham Palace, given by Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen emphasised the importance of the relations between the USA and Britain, and mentioned the cooperation during World War II, when British and American soldiers fought side by side to free Europe from the Nazis. The visit ends on Wednesday, with Donald Trump scheduled to attend a ceremony in Portsmouth to mark the D-Day landings, when on June 6, 1944, 160,000 British, American, French and other Allied troops landed in Nazi-occupied Normandy. Donald Trump will then fly to Ireland and France.

WEATHER Meteorologists have extended an alert for unstable weather and heavy rainfalls valid across the country until Thursday night. Thunderstorms and strong wind are also expected, and precipitation amounts will reach up to 25 l per square metre, and up to 50 l per square metre in some parts of the country.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)