The Week in Review 08-14.01 2017

Click here for a round-up of the main events in Romania this past week

România Internațional, 14.01.2017, 12:35

Harsh winter in Romania

The blizzard, snowfalls and ensuing cold hitting Romania this week have left many dead, thousands of people stranded and disrupted road, rail and air traffic. Schools and kindergartens have been shut down, and some villages have been cut off from the power grid. The most affected regions were the south and the east. Temperatures dropped to minus 32 degrees Celsius in central regions, with minus 20 degrees reported in Bucharest. The streets of the capital city were blocked by snow and public transportation has been severely affected. The situation on the Danube River has become dramatic, as the water flow has hit dangerously low levels. The authorities have temporarily shut down segments of the river, due to the drifting ice that might put ships in danger. The cold snap brought along historic lows in terms of temperature and historic highs in terms of energy consumption, with the countrys both natural gas and electricity supply systems working at full tilt. For this reason the Government passed an ordinance banning the electricity exports in emergency situations over the period January 16 – February 15.

The state budget for 2017

President Klaus Iohannis has met with Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu and Finance Minister Viorel Stefan to discuss the draft budget for 2017. The meeting was held amidst concerns over the measures adopted last week by the Government, seen as a potential destabilizing factor for the budget. The Government has introduced salary increases and tax deductions for pensioners, also exempting them from paying health insurance contributions, which makes for a considerable financial effort. The President wanted to know how the Government was planning to deal with the effects of these measures. Klaus Iohannis believes the Government and Parliament must come up with a sustainable budget, providing for a deficit below 3% of the GDP and 2% allotted to defense. The budget for 2017 is being drawn up with utter responsibility, the members of the Government have said.

The Government can issue emergency ordinances during Parliaments recess

The Government can issue emergency ordinances during Parliaments recess, the Constitutional Court of Romania has ruled. The court rejected by unanimous vote the notification filed by the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the Peoples Movement Party whereby the three parties challenged the constitutionality of the Governments ability to issue such ordinances. Constitutional Court president Valer Dorneanu said the challenges to the regulations of the Chamber of Deputies were not for the Constitutional Court to rule. Opposition parties claim the law allowing the Government to pass emergency ordinances enables the Government to change organic laws through simple ordinances, which they believe goes against the Constitution. The Social-Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea said the oppositions notification was only an attempt to block the activity of the Government.

CVM in place in 2017

Romania has met all requirements to have the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism lifted this year, Justice Minister Florin Iordache said on Thursday, after meeting with the Deputy Secretary General of the European Commission, Paraskevi Michou.

Florin Iordache: “The mechanism, which for years has been functional and has shown Romanias progress, proves that there are sufficient guarantees that the authorities working in the judicial field do their job properly.

Paraskevi Michou said however that the CVM would not be lifted in 2017, despite Romanias progress over the past 10 years. Michou explained that lifting the mechanism depended solely on the efforts of the Government and Parliament to make the reforms reported so far sustainable and irreversible. The EU official said the CVM report for 2016 would be released shortly, and that the Commission was willing to cooperate closely with the authorities with a view to lifting the mechanism. The Cooperation and Verification Mechanism was introduced in 2007 as a prerequisite for Romanias accession to the European Union. It monitors the countrys reform of its judiciary and the fight against corruption and organized crime.

High-ranking intelligence officer suspended

The second most important man in the Romanian Intelligence Service, General Florian Coldea, has been suspended from office after his name was linked to a scandal involving the controversial businessman Sebastian Ghita, who is currently being investigated for several acts of corruption. The decision of the Romanian Intelligence Service to suspend Coldea came after Sebastian Ghita accused Coldea of illegal dealings. An international arrest warrant has been issued on his name. The Intelligence chief Eduard Hellvig has called for the setting up of a special committee to investigate Coldeas relationship with Ghita. Hellvig will also serve as First Deputy Director pending the inquiry.