March 26, 2017 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 26.03.2017, 19:21
ALDE – The Central Political Office of ALDE, the co-ruling Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania on Sunday decided to withdraw political support in the government to the group’s co-president Daniel Constantin, deputy Prime Minister and Environment Minister. Constantin has described the move as an abuse as it doesn’t comply with the party’s status. In turn, ALDE’s second leader, Senate speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu has explained Constantin didn’t lose his leading position in the party. Tariceanu has announced the present minister for the relation with Parliament, Gratiela Gavrilescu, will be proposed to take over the government positions held by Constantin. Viorel Ilie, presently heading ALDE senators, will be nominated for Gavrilescu’s position.
TRUST — The trust of financial analysts in Romania’s macroeconomic developments rose in February by two points as compared to the previous month when it hit a 55% low, data released by the Association of Investment Professionals in Romania show. Most of the analysts have forecast an inflation rate of 1.5% as well as an exchange rate of 4.55 lei for a Euro for a period between March this year and March 2018. The trust of certified economic analysts is on an upward trend against the background of positive expectations concerning the business conditions Romania offers.
TALKS — A fresh round of talks is expected in Bucharest next week between government representatives and representatives of policemen discontented with their pay. Negotiations sparked off by the street protests attended by 2,000 policemen ended on Saturday in a deadlock. Interior Minister Carmen Dan said that on Monday she would try to set jointly with trade union leaders amendment proposals to a government ordinance so that policemen would get better pay. The Minister of Public Consultations and Social Dialogue Gabriel Petrea has explained that settling pay differences as well as other issues affecting this field will be significantly bearing on the budget.
COMMISSIONER The European Commissioner for regional policy, Corina Cretu, has said in an interview with German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that she opposes sanctions to be applied to countries in Eastern Europe and refuses to use structural funds to put pressure in the refugee issue. In her opinion, structural funds can play a major role in solving the refugee crisis by channeling them to the regions facing difficulties in this respect. The commissioner has also firmly stood against the idea of channeling structural funds in the next financial period only towards poorer member countries. She said that rich countries like Austria or Germany still need financial assistance in fields like SMEs or innovation.
