May 13, 2020 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 13.05.2020, 20:16
MEASURES The European Commission on
Wednesday presented a package of directions and recommendations to help member
countries to gradually eliminate travel restrictions and to allow travel
companies to open their doors. According to the EU commissioner for transport
Adina Valean, the key priority is to reestablish mobility as soon as possible
but only with the observance of clear rules regarding health and safety. The
Commission’s Tourism and Transport package includes among other things a global
recovery strategy for 2020 and the coming period as well as a recommendation
aimed at turning travel vouchers into an attractive alternative to cash reimbursement for consumers. The
Commission intends to support tourism enterprises by providing liquidity particularly
to the SMEs in the industry, and preserve jobs with a financial aid of up to
100 billion euros through the SURE programme. Summer is a crucial season for
this business in Europe, when revenues go up to 150 billion euros on an average
and the number of tourists may reach over 360 million.
MOTION Romanian
MPs on Wednesday passed the simple motion tabled by the opposition PSD against
the Finance Minister Florin Cîţu. The
country’s resources must no longer be pawned, Romania must be saved from the ‘Florin
Cîţu virus,’ and the finance minister must go, reads the text of the motion.
The Social Democrats claim Cîţu proved unable to come up with efficient
measures to support the economy. On Monday, when the motion was debated, minister
Cîţu accused the Social Democrats of using the virus to promote their political
agenda. He said that during the 2 months of the government’s implementing
measures to restart the economy, the Social Democrats tried to amend them in
Parliament in a populist manner. Had their amendments been passed, Romania
would have been in economic chaos, Florin Citu added.
COVID-19 The COVID-19 death toll in
Romania has reached 1016, the Strategic Communication Group announced today.
According to the latest official data, the total number of cases is over 16,000,
of which almost 8,000 patients have recovered. The largest number of cases is
reported in Suceava (north-east) and in the capital Bucharest. Among the
Romanians living abroad, more than 2,850 have so far tested positive for the
virus, mostly in Italy, Spain and Germany, and 102 have died since the start of
the pandemic.
RULING The Constitutional Court of Romania Wednesday ruled that
the government emergency order regulating the state of alert is constitutional,
but it cannot restrict citizen rights. The Court was notified by the Ombudsman, who
claims that fundamental rights and freedoms can only be restricted by law, and
not by emergency or government orders. Delegating legislative powers that affects citizens’ rights comes
against the principle of the separation of powers, under which Parliament is
the country’s only legislative authority, the Ombudsman argued. The
Constitutional Court had previously ruled that the fines issued during the
state of emergency were unconstitutional.
ECONOMY Romania’s economy is expected
to shrink 4% this year, as against a 3.2% growth rate predicted in November
2019, reads a report made public on Wednesday by the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development. The EBRD lowered its estimates concerning the
Romanian economy in 2020, as a result of the corona crisis. For 2021, the
institution expects a 4% growth of Romania’s GDP. The EBRD is the main
institutional investor in Romania, with investments totaling over 8.6 billion
euros. The European Commission has also adjusted its estimates for the Romanian
economy this year and expects a substantial, 6% fall after years of robust growth,
while the government deficit is forecast to reach 9.2% of the GDP this year. In
turn, the IMF expects Romania’s economy to drop 5% in 2020, and to recover in
2021, when a 3.9% growth rate is predicted.
