COVID-19
\nOn Thursday Romania
\nregistered the highest number of daily Covid infections since the beginning of
\nthe pandemic, 614, bringing the total number of infections up to 30,800. 17 new
\nCovid-associated fatalities have been reported, which brings the death toll up
\nto 1834. The number of patients in intensive care has increased to 240 coming
\ncloser to the number registered during the emergency situation. Given this
\nsituation, experts and authorities have increased their messages to population
\nas the increased number of infections is the result of lack of compliance with
\nthe prevention norms. President Iohannis has made an appeal for cooperation
\nbetween all the state’s fundamental institutions so that they may properly deal
\nwith the situation. According to the president, there is no time now for
\npolitical disputes or vanities and he pleaded for unity and for Parliament’s immediate
\nendorsement of the legal framework to regulate quarantine and isolation.
\nIohannis has announced that he has notified Parliament on the actions and
\ninitiatives he had during the emergency situation instated for two months in
\nRomania as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March. A month later
\nRomania shifted to the state of alert. Over 51 hundred Romanians have been
\nconfirmed infected outside the country and 122 have died. <\/p>\n
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TRANSPORT The
\nRomanian authorities believe that a series of provisions of the revised norms
\nin the Mobility package 1 passed by the European Parliament on Wednesday are discriminatory
\nagainst the Romanian transporters. According to the Foreign Ministry and the
\nMinistry of Transports in Bucharest, the two institutions have repeatedly signaled during talks
\nat EU level the fact that some provisions have negative implications and will
\nbear on the functioning of the local market, road transportation all throughout
\nthe union as well as on the process of fighting climate change. Under these
\nprovisions trucks must return to their country of origin every eight
\nmonths, even if they are empty. Romania and the countries at the EU borders
\nhave pointed out that the revised EU norms are discriminatory against transport
\ncompanies in these countries as compared to their counterparts in central and Western
\nEurope. According to the EU transport Commissioner Adina Valean, the Romanian
\nauthorities have a right to notify the European Court of Justice on the
\nprovisions affecting the European Climate Pact and competition on the single
\nmarket. Proposed by the European Commission in May 2017 this aforementioned revised
\nprovisions have sparked off divergences between the countries in the West,
\nincluding Germany and France and those in the east including Romania, Bulgaria,
\nHungary and Poland. <\/p>\n
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BILL A bill on self-isolation and quarantine
\ndrafted by the Government is on the agenda of the Chamber of Deputies as of Thursday.
\nThe Government passed the bill on Monday, after the Constitutional Court
\ndismissed previous bills on compulsory isolation and quarantine as
\nunconstitutional, on grounds that they are lacking in clarity and
\npredictability, and do not guarantee that certain fundamental rights and
\nfreedoms are complied with. The Constitutional Court also found that
\nintroducing quarantine under a government order is a violation of fundamental
\nrights. The Social Democrats in opposition announced they would substantially
\nalter the text of the bill, because it comes against citizen rights and
\nfreedoms. On the other hand, the Government accuses the Social Democratic Party
\nof irresponsibility over postponing debates on this bill, which according to
\nthe Cabinet enhances the efficiency of COVID-19 containment measures while at
\nthe same time complying with the Constitutional Court ruling. The Senate will
\ncast the decisive vote on this bill early next week.<\/p>\n
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EU The German Chancellor Angela Merkel
\npresented the European Parliament with the programme of the rotating presidency
\nof the Council of the EU, which Berlin will be holding for the next 6 months.
\nThe German official once again called for solidarity and unity among member
\nstates, so that they may emerge stronger from the coronavirus crisis. Merkel
\ndescribed this health crisis as the biggest challenge for the EU and explained
\nthat the future multi-annual budget as well as the post COVID-19 recovery fund
\nmust not only help in the short run, but also lead to a long-term reform of the
\nUnion. In turn, the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen
\nwarned politicians and institutions not to disregard the multi-annual budget in
\nfavour of the economic recovery instrument, dubbed Next Generation EU. Member
\nstates must overcome divergences over a number of issues, such as the funds
\nearmarked for the recovery plan, its duration, the loan-to-grant ratio or the
\ncriteria for fund allotment to member countries.<\/p>\n
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