May 8, 2018 UPDATE
Eurostat: Almost one in five persons in EU is aged 65 or over
Newsroom, 08.05.2018, 19:48
CORRUPTION – Romania is dealing with the situation of offenders turning professional, proof thereof being the huge bribes offered and accepted at the signing of contracts financed from public money, Romania’s Prosecutor General, Augustin Lazar, said on Tuesday. Attending a debate staged by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, focused on corruption in the health system, Augustin Lazar has said that applying the law is the only way to fight this plague. Almost 60% of the Romanians affected by corruption say its effects are the most deeply felt in the public health system, anti-corruption chief prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi has said at the debate. The information presented is included in the European Commission’s latest report on corruption in the EU member states.
HEALTHCARE — Romanian PM Viorica Dancila, alongside the ministers of health and finance, on Tuesday met with representatives of healthcare trade unions, who said they would go on general strike on Friday if the government does not find means of increasing wages. On Monday, hospitals across the country went on a two-hour warning strike. Protesters are not satisfied with the 30% ceiling to bonuses, and claim that the new wage scheme caused losses of up to 215 Euro to certain categories of health workers. The situation has caused the opposition National Liberal Party to introduce a motion to remove Social Democrat Health Minister Sorin Pintea.
JUSTICE — Parliament’s special committee for the revision of the justice laws have started debating the amendments to the Criminal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Civil Code, following hearings last week with the Minister of Justice, parliamentary groups and professional associations. Justice Minister Tudorel Toader supports the amendments to the Criminal Code in line with the decisions of the Constitutional Court and European directives, while the right wing opposition believes that the proposed changes would favor politicians under investigation by courts of law. The representatives of professional associations are against the relaxation of the Criminal Code, and argue that these changes will have repercussions for years to come. Last week, President Klaus Iohannis sent once again the proposed amendments to the Constitutional Court, announcing he would file a complaint with the Venice Commission.
CANNES – The 71st edition of the Cannes Film Festival opens, with 21 movies competing for the Palme dOr prize, which will be given out on May 19. Romania competes with the short film Blue and Red, Equally, by Georgiana Moldoveanu, while Romanian origin director Marta Bergman participates with her French-Belgian production of Seule a mon mariage feature length drama. The Romanian Short Waves program, containing 14 Romanian productions, has been running at Cannes since 2008, continuing this year. In the Short Film Corner category, three more short films will be screened. Famous director Cristian Mungiu chairs the tenth edition of the La Fabrique Cinema program, aimed at supporting filmmakers in emerging countries.
PROSECUTION — Anti-corruption prosecutors have filed in the Supreme Court a request for a three-year sentence against Senate Speaker Calin Popescu-Tariceanu. In 2016, prosecutors with the National Anti-corruption Directorate started a prosecution against him for perjury and conspiracy in a case regarding land deals. The sentence will be issued on May 22.
STATISTICS — Almost one in five persons in the European Union is aged 65 or over, the Eurostat has reported. In the EU, the old-age dependency ratio was 29.9% in 2017 which means there were slightly more than three persons of working age for every person aged 65 or over. The old-age dependency ration is traditionally seen as an indication of the level of support available to older persons (those aged 65 or over) by the working age population, (those aged between 15 and 64). According to the Eurostat, in 2017, across the EU Member States, the old-age dependency ratio was highest in Italy, Greece and Finland, followed by Portugal and Germany. At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest ratios were recorded in Luxembourg, Ireland, Slovakia, Cyprus, Poland and also Romania. In these Member States, there were about five persons of working age for every older person.
TENNIS — Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, number one in the world, on Tuesday defeated Belgian Elise Mertens, 6-0, 6-3 in the second round of the Madrid WTA tournament. Halep will next be up against Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic. Also on Tuesday, in the second round of the competition, Romanian Sorana Carstea was WTA’s 36th seed, was defeated by Russian Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-1. In the mens singles, Marius Copil, 92nd seeded, was defeated by Jan-Lennard Struff. (Translated by Elena Enache)
