March 26, 2019

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 26.03.2019, 13:45

CONSULTATIONS – President Klaus Iohannis is today consulting
with representatives of civil society regarding the justice referendum. The
President last week said he was almost determined to call a referendum
coinciding with the European Parliament election of May 26. The president’s
announcement followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling sanctioning a
referendum on the same day as the European Parliament election.

MEETING – Romania’s Prime Minister Viorica Dancila met
with US Secretary of Trade Wilbur Ross during her visit to the United States of
America. On this occasion, Dancila highlighted the importance of consolidating
economic cooperation as part of the Strategic Partnership between the two
states. According to a Government release made public today, Viorica Dancila
presented the measures the Government has taken to ensure an appealing business
sector by increasing the budget of investment in key fields, simplifying the
legislation on public-private partnership as well as awarding tax benefits to
companies carrying out investment with a major economic impact. During her
visit talks focused on the achievements reported so far by the Romanian
Presidency of the Council of the EU on several files of major importance for
the development of the business sector, such as energy, digitization and
finance.

YOUTH -
The European Union Youth Conference kicks off today in Bucharest, organized by
the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The main topics
on the three-day agenda of the conference are the integration of young people
on the labour market and improving dialogue between the youth and the
authorities. Taking part are some 250 representatives of young people and line
ministers from Member States. Also represented are states in the Eastern
Partnership and the West Balkans, European and international bodies in the
field of youth and labour.

BREXIT – British MPs on Monday evening voted in favour
of taking control of the UK’s scheduled withdrawal from the community bloc. The
move is unprecedented, aimed at offering MPs the possibility to choose a
solution to overcome the Brexit deadlock. MPs on Wednesday will vote a series
of motions to decide whether or not they support the various Brexit scenarios,
which include the organization of a new referendum, a no-deal Brexit or
revoking Article 50. We recall Parliament has twice rejected Prime Minister
Theresa May’s negotiated agreement with the EU. At the summit organized last
week in Brussels, EU leaders accepted a postponement of Brexit, originally
slated for March 29, and gave the UK two deadlines. In the first scenario, if
Parliament finally approves the original Brexit agreement, the deadline for
leaving the EU will be May 22. In the second scenario, if the agreement falls
through, the deadline for Brexit will be April 12, during which time London is
expected to choose the direction in which it is headed. Meanwhile, Brussels
announced it has concluded its ‘no-deal’ preparations.

EU-CHINA -
Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emanuel Macron and
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker are today holding talks in Paris
with Chinese President Xi Jinping about future relations between Europe and
China. The Chinese President is on a tour of Europe to gather support for his
project The New Silk Road, aimed at linking China to Europe by means of a
thousand-billion-dollar investment by 2030. Several EU states have signed
protocols expressing their desire to join the project, and last week Europe’s
third-largest economy, Italy, currently facing severe economic imbalances, became
the first G7 country to sing. European Commission representatives have called
for the immediate establishment of a joint strategy, concerned with Chinese
investment in key sectors in Member States, such as electricity grids,
high-speed rail networks and port infrastructure.

FOOTBALL – Romania’s national football team is today playing the
Faeroe Islands at home in Group F of the 2020 European Championship
preliminaries. Romania on Saturday lost 2-1 to Sweden away from home. The group
also includes Spain, Norway, Malta. The first two teams will advance to the
championship. On Monday, Romania’s Under-21 team defeated Denmark 1-nil in a
friendly game played in Spain. Our under-21 team will play in the 2019 European
Championships hosted by Italy and San Marino in Group C, alongside England,
France and Croatia.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player world no. 3 Simona Halep has qualified in
the quarterfinals of the Miami Open in the US, a tournament with total prizes
of some 9 million dollars. The second-see ousted Venus Williams of the United
States (43 WTA) in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Halep will next take on 18th-seed
Qiang Wang of China.

(translated by V. Palcu)