BREXIT Tonight at midnight, Brussels’ time, the UK becomes the
\nfirst state to leave the European Union since its foundation. Its economy
\naccounted for 15% of the union’s and London is the world’s financial capital.
\nThe UK was also the EU country with the biggest defence budget. The kingdom joined
\nthe EU in 1973, 16 years after the Rome treaty had been signed and 22 years
\nafter the setting up of the European Community of Coal and Steel by France,
\nWest Germany, Italy and Benelux. Two years ago, the UK decided through a
\nreferendum to leave the EU, a move, which kicked off a complicated process of
\nnegotiations fraught with numerous interior blockages, which led to two rounds
\nof snap election. The transition period, which starts this Saturday, is going
\nto end late this year, when the UK hopes to have reached consensus over a
\nseries of aspects in its future relation with the EU. One of the most important
\nis a trade agreement aimed at preventing a series of taxes and duties that may
\noccur in the trade relations between the two sides. During his meeting with the
\nBritish business community in Romania, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has voiced
\nhis support for tight relations between the EU and the UK in the future. <\/p>\n
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POVERTY Romania has made headway in reducing poverty among its employed
\npersons, the EU statistics office Eurostat has announced today. Nevertheless, in
\n2018 the country was the EU member with the highest risk of poverty among its
\nemployed, 15.3% against a European average of 9.5. At the opposite end, with
\nthe lowest degree of poverty among employed persons, are Finland, the Czech
\nRepublic, Ireland, Belgium and Croatia. The Eurostat data shows an increasing
\ntrend of poverty among the people with jobs all throughout the European Union,
\nbut the sharpest drops have been seen in Greece, Latvia and Romania. <\/p>\n
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VIRUS No infection with coronavirus has been confirmed in Romania so
\nfar, the ministerial committee for the management and monitoring of the
\npotential infections with the new virus has announced. Prevention measures have
\nbeen put in place in airports and medical units designated for the treatment of
\npossible infection cases. The National Authority for Consumer Protection in
\nRomania has given assurances that there is no contamination risk from goods
\nimported from China since the virus has a lifespan of 24 hours outside the
\nhuman body, and it takes around 35 days to transport goods from China to
\nRomania. The World Health Organisation has declared the new coronavirus a
\nglobal emergency as the death toll in China stands at 213. <\/p>\n
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RUGBY Romania’s national rugby team on Saturday take on the similar
\nteam of Georgia. The fixture counts towards the inaugural leg of the Rugby
\nEurope Championship 2020, the former European Cup of Nations, with Europe’s
\nsecond-tier teams taking part. A 33-strong Romanian delegation has travelled to
\nGeorgia, with the pool of regulars being affected by a couple of rugby players
\nbeing absent, because of the flu. For the upcoming competition in Tbilisi, a
\nnew head-coach is at the helm of the Romanian delegation, the English Andy
\nRobinson, whose debut with the Romanian team is the very game against Georgia.
\nIn a week’s time, Romania travels to Portugal, for a fixture against the
\nPortuguese national side. The 2020 edition of the Rugby Europe Championship is
\nan interesting and especially a very balanced one, all the more so as Georgia
\nand Russia participated in the most recent edition of the World Cup. Also,
\nRomania and Spain are dead set to secure a place in the upcoming world-level
\ncompetition, while the game pitting Belgium against Portugal is simply a
\nsurvival of the fittest. <\/p>\n
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MOTION The
\ncensure motion against the Liberal government in Bucharest tabled by the
\nopposition PSD will be presented to Parliament on Monday. The Social Democrats’
\nmove was decided after the Executive led by Ludovic Orban had assumed
\nresponsibility for a project on reintroducing the two-round election of mayors,
\nalmost half a year before the event. According to the Social Democrats, the
\npresent government must step down for its decision to amend the election law
\nright before the event, which runs against European standards and also for
\nendorsing the new amendments unilaterally without talks and debates over the
\nproject. According to the president of the Chamber of Deputies and PSD interim
\nleader Marcel Ciolacu, ‘we are currently facing the severest crisis of abuse of
\npower’. The Liberals, however, argue that the new system of voting will
\nincrease the candidates’ representation and legitimacy. The Social Democrats
\nsay the motion could get endorsed by 233 MPs standing chances to clear the
\nthreshold. Prime Minister Orban says he is ready for any result and that his
\nobjectives are to ensure a stable governance and win the future local and
\nparliament election. <\/p>\n
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(translated by bill)<\/p>\n
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