The Week in Review, July 3-9

A review of the headline-grabbing events of the past week in Romania

Daniela Budu, 09.07.2016, 14:00

Country project

President Klaus Iohannis announced the set-up of a task force to put together a new country project for Romania, ten years after its EU accession.

Klaus Iohannis: “Unfortunately, in Romania weve had a lot of so-called country projects, which have neither lasted, nor been implemented, because there was no political consensus in this respect. This time, we will join forces and draw up a strategy to guide Romania within the EU in the medium and long run, to define Romanias place, role and ambitions in the Union.

In turn, the Cabinet launched a public debate on a new project called “Competitive Romania. It focuses on improving productivity, capital and the other elements able to contribute to the development of domestic production and having a direct impact on labour and the quality of life.

Government reshuffle in Bucharest

The PM of Romania, Dacian Ciolos, has replaced 4 of the 22 ministers in his Cabinet, namely the ministers of Education, of Communications, of Transportation and the delegate-minister for relations with the Romanian diaspora. The PM said the respective ministers had done most of their jobs, but that he wanted a fresh impetus for the governmental team.

Dacian Ciolos: “The main priority for the new ministers will be to speed up the delivery of results for the projects that have been initiated and which, in my view, have not advanced fast enough. I want people who can bring fresh impetus, who can approach things in a different manner and who can better capitalise on the time that we have left to fulfil the goals that this Government committed itself to reaching.

The rector of the University of Bucharest, Mircea Dumitru, is the new Education Minister. Sorin Buse, a manager with experience in the automotive industry was appointed Transportation Minister, the PMs chief of staff Dragos Tudorache is the interim Communications Minister, and the ex-Ambassador of Romania to Canada, Maria Ligor, will be in charge with the relations with the Romanians living abroad.

Visa waiver for Romanians

PM Dacian Ciolos believes things are going in the right direction as regards waiving visa requirements for the Romanians who wish to travel to Canada. The topic will be approached next week in Brussels by representatives of the European Commission, Romania, Bulgaria and Canada. In this context, Dacian Ciolos mentioned that, as an EU member state, Romania might not ratify the EU-Canada trade agreement, which must be ratified by national parliaments before it can be signed in October.

Dacian Ciolos: “We have some leverage, as an EU member state, and we will certainly use it, because I cannot have Romania sign a treaty with Canada without making sure that Romanian citizens will be able to benefit from it to the same extent as the other EU citizens will.

In April, Canada and the US were given three more months to meet the EU policy on mutual visa regimes, under which the countries whose citizens do not need visas to enter the EU are in turn bound to ensure free movement on their territories for all EU citizens. At present Canada requests entry visas for Romanians and Bulgarians, whereas the USA has visa requirements in place for five EU countries, including Romania.

Slovakia takes rotating EU presidency

The Ambassador of Slovakia to Romania, Jan Gabor, presented in Bucharest the priorities of his countrys six-month term as holder of the EU Council presidency. These priorities include an economically solid and globally engaged Europe, the extension of the single market, and migration. The Romanian Foreign Minister, Lazar Comanescu, said Romania would stand by Slovakia in supporting the European project and added that, at times like these, the EU needs credibility and solidarity.

Constitutional Court rules on local elected officials

Local elected officials having received suspended prison sentences will lose their seats, the Constitutional Court of Romania ruled. The Court was notified in this respect by President Klaus Iohannis, after Parliament had endorsed a bill that allowed local elected officials in this situation to keep their offices. The interim president of the Court, Valer Dorneanu, explained that the solution given by Parliament would have led to a discriminatory situation and would have disregarded the lawmakers intention to protect the integrity and responsibility of the local elected official posts.

German coach to manage the Romanian football team

The German coach Christoph Daum is the new manager of Romanias national football team, the Romanian Football Federation announced. Aged 62, he is the first foreigner entrusted with the national football team. Daum is replacing Anghel Iordanescu, who was in charge of the national team at the Euro 2016 tournament in France, where Romania was forced out in the group stage, having lost to France and Albania and drawn with Switzerland. In Germany, Daum won the Bundesliga Championship and the Cup Winners Cup with VfB Stuttgart in the early 1990s. Other performances include the championship and Cup Winners Cup in Turkey with Besiktas Istanbul and two consecutive champion titles with Fenerbahce, as well as the championship and cup titles with Austria Vienna.