September 14, 2016 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 14.09.2016, 12:15
LIABILITY INSURANCE POLICY – The Romanian Government on Wednesday passed an emergency ordinance related to the motor-vehicle liability insurance policies, under which prices for insurance premiums are frozen for a period of 6 months. The PM Dacian Cioloş pointed out that the Financial Supervisory Authority would provide a reference price within 30 days. 4 out of the 6 road transportation employers’ associations announced they would protest, on Thursday, in Bucharest, in front of the Government building, against the excessive prices of motor-vehicle liability insurance policies. In another development, the Government adopted, also on Wednesday, Romania’s General Transport Master Plan. The transport minister, Sorin Buşe, said the Master Plan provided for the construction of around 6,800 kms of roads, of which more than 1,500 kms of highways and the modernization of more than 5,000 kms of railway, 15 airports and over 30 ports.
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT – The Romanian Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected the notification made by the Government related to the unitary wage law for budgetary personnel, which provides, among other things, for granting a 15% benefit to those holding a PhD title. The government claims such a law could generate interpretations of and a biased application of the law. Moreover, the Government argued that the stipulation related to a 10% increase in the salaries of state employees would have a financial impact that cannot be covered by the budget. The Court admitted, though, the government’s notification related to the salary rise for the Transport Ministry employees. According to the Constitutional Court, the law discriminates against other categories of employees and runs counter to the principle of equal rights stipulated in the Constitution.
CIOLOS ON EU – The Romanian PM Dacian Cioloş says that the EU should focus on such issues as security and the economy, in order to regain the confidence of its citizens. In an interview to the French daily Ouest France quoted by news agencies, Cioloş urged Brussels to make sure that the European project remained comprehensive and that decisions were not passed by a small group of states. Cioloş criticized Europe’s strategy of managing the immigration crisis, through which some EU member states tried to impose their own solutions to the detriment of other countries whose voices were not heard. The Romanian PM insisted on tackling the EU countries’ capacity to integrate the migrants, the setting of migrant quotas and distribution among member states being not enough. He made these statements ahead of the EU summit to be held on Friday in Bratislava. The summit is meant to redefine the European Union after Brexit.
STATE OF THE EU – The president of the European Commission, Jean Claude Junker, said Wednesday in his State of the Union address that the EU respected but regretted Great Britain’s decision to leave the community bloc. He underlined that the EU was not in danger, though, because of the Brexit. Jean Claude Junker pleaded for boosting integration in Europe, but added that the interests of nation states should not be regarded as secondary, though.
ELECTIONS – September 14 was the last day when the Romanian citizens abroad could enroll in the Electoral Register, in the run up to the legislative elections to be held on December 11. According to data centralized by the Permanent Electoral Authority more than 10 thousand requests have been validated. Of them more than 7,200 refer to the vote by mail and around 2,800 to voting in polling stations. Following requests by at least 100 voters, 5 supplementary polling stations, 4 in the Republic of Moldova and 1 in Spain, will be set up. (translation by Lacramioara Simion)
