March 14, 2017 UPDATE

British Prime Minister Theresa May has confirmed that Article 50 will be triggered by the end of March.

Newsroom, 14.03.2017, 19:41

VISIT – Representatives of the Romanian government will pay a working visit to Italy, between March 15 and 17 to verify the information published by the press over some cases of exploitation of Romanian citizens working in the regions of Sicily and Calabria. Minister for the Romanians Abroad, Andrea Pastarnac, and a representative of the Interior Ministry will hold talks with local officials, with representatives of the Romanian workers’ associations in Italy and of the local organisations in charge of defending the foreign workers’ rights. Also, Romania’s Ombudsman announced on Tuesday that he will get in touch with Italian authorities over the same issue. A report published on Sunday by the British weekly ‘The Observer’ says that nearly 75 hundred women, mostly Romanians, working in agriculture in the provinces of Ragusa in Sicily are victims of numerous abuses, including threats and sexual aggression.

STATISTICS – In the fourth quarter of last year Romania reported 5.24 million pensioners, their number being by 6,000 smaller than in the previous quarter, a report issued by the National Institute for Statistics (INS) says. According to the same source, the ratio between the average number of pensioners and employees was 9 to 10. The report shows significant territorial variations; there are 5 pensioners to every 10 employees in Bucharest as compared Teleorman county in southern Romania, where the ratio is 17 pensioners to 10 employees. Average pensions may also vary across the territory; the difference between the smallest and the biggest pension being of nearly 88 euros.

TALKS – The European Commissioner for regional policy, Corina Cretu, will be in Romania between March 15th and 17th for talks with the Bucharest authorities and the civil society over the White Charter of the future of Europe. The European official will be holding a meeting with the European affairs committees of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. President Iohannis has recently said that a multi-speed Europe for an indefinite period of time is not a good solution; on the contrary, it might lead to a rift inside the union. Iohannis added that Romania should not be afraid of the projects that are worked on at different speeds.

RULING – Magistrates with the Supreme Court in Bucharest on Tuesday postponed for April 25th the first term of a case in which former deputy PM and Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea is accused of abuse of office. According to prosecutors, in July 2015 Oprea, at that time Interior Minister, used the Ministry’s funds illegally, causing 90 thousand euros in damages to the state budget. Oprea is also being probed in for abuse of office in another case, on the illegal use of the official motorcade, an issue that came into the limelight after a policeman from this motorcade was killed in an accident. Oprea’s name also appears in another court file against the suspended mayor of Bucharest’s Sector 2, Neculai Ontanu.

BREXIT – British Prime Minister Theresa May has confirmed that Article 50 will be triggered by the end of March. “This will be a defining moment for our whole country,” she added. “We will be a strong, self-governing global Britain with control once again over our borders and our laws.” In the following days, Queen Elizabeth would approve the bill, the Prime Minister said. After receiving this “Royal Assent,” the cabinet would be free to send formal notification to the EU at any time. British Lawmakers on Monday debated and then rejected two amendments put forward earlier by the House of Lords. The rejected amendments would have included a guarantee of the rights of EU nationals living in the UK and would have given lawmakers more powers to reject the final terms of negotiations with the EU.

GOVERNMENT – Romania believes that the re-launch of the European project is possible based on the idea of unity around the fundamental values and principles of the EU, Romanian PM Sorin Grindeanu said on Tuesday in Bucharest. Grindeanu had a meeting with the Croatian deputy PM and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Davor Ivo Stier, in the context of Croatia marking 25 years of international recognition. The two officials also discussed about bilateral ties and cooperation with a view to the two country’s accession to the Schengen area.

(Translated by Elena Enache)