July 17, 2018 UPDATE
President Klaus Iohannis to meet PM Viorica Dancila on Wednesday, CCR to discuss notification by President Iohannis
Newsroom, 17.07.2018, 19:19
Meeting — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will meet with the Social Democratic PM Viorica Dancila on Wednesday, upon the request of the president, shows the presidential administration. The meeting takes place in a sensitive context, as the press has written about the likelihood of the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats issuing an emergency decree on amnesty and pardon, a controversial issue that prompted thousands of people to protest in the street one year and a half ago. The previous meeting of the two officials, two months ago, also took place upon the request of the president, after the controversy related to the potential relocation of the Romanian embassy in Israel. At the end of April, President Iohannis asked for the resignation of Mrs. Dancila as he considered she could not comply with the responsibilities required by the prime ministerial position.
CCR — The Romanian Constitutional Court postponed for Wednesday discussing the notification made by President Klaus Iohannis in relation to modifying and amending the law on the organization and functioning of the Superior Council of Magistracy. In the notification, President Iohannis shows that Parliament rejected without any motivation his request for re-examination of the provisions related to the functioning of the Superior Council of Magistracy, in which the president claimed that the role of the president as a guarantor of the independence of the judiciary and the functioning of the Judicial Inspection was affected. By invoking a decision of the Constitutional Court, the President says that Parliament should re-examine all the aspects he referred to. On Tuesday the Court rejected as inadmissible the notification submitted by the rightwing opposition on the same topic. The notification was signed by 90 deputies from the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Party and also by non-affiliated deputies, who claim that the modification of the law on the organization and functioning of the Superior Council of Magistracy was again adopted by violating certain constitutional provisions.
Free trade — The EU and Japan signed Tuesday in Tokyo a free trade agreement that will eliminate nearly all tariffs on bilateral trade exchanges between the two sides. Attending the signing of the document, the president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said that the agreement was a reference point for world trade. Annually, the European companies export to Japan goods and services amounting to more than 100 billion dollars. According to international news agencies, this is a powerful message against the protectionism promoted by the American president Donald Trump.
Talks — The Romanian minister delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu on Tuesday talked in Bucharest with Michael Roth, minister of state for Europe with Germany’s Foreign Ministry, about the importance of the bilateral partnership. Another major issue on the agenda of talks was Romania’s future mandate as president of the EU Council in the first half of 2019. The two officials also discussed the future of the EU, the Brexit issue and the new community budget.
Hostages — The crisis cell set up by the Romanian Foreign Ministry in the case of the Romanian engineer abducted in Libya on Tuesday met again. The Romanian embassy in Libya relocated in Tunis urgently contacted the Libyan central and local authorities to deal with the case. The Romanian officials also asked for the support of Romania’s international partners. The Romanian Foreign Ministry set up a maximum alert level for Libya as early as 2015. (translated and updated by Lacramioara Simion)
