December 22, 2018

A roundup of domestic news

Newsroom, 22.12.2018, 14:05

SUMMIT – The Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila is attending in Belgrade the Romania – Serbia – Bulgaria – Greece summit. The main topic on the agenda is the Western Balkans Region and the projects aimed at interconnecting it with the EU. The summit is a fresh opportunity for the continuation of the dialogue between Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia on regional cooperation, starting from common interests in ensuring stability, prosperity and security in the region. According to the head of the Romanian Government, Romania is interested in building a cohesive and better integrated region, which includes the Balkan states. Recently, in Varna, Viorica Dancila has stressed the importance of this cohesion policy which, in her opinion, is and must remain the main EU investment policy, as it contributes significantly to promoting the balanced development of the Member States and regions.

ORDINANCE – The Romanian Government, formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, adopted in Fridays session an emergency ordinance on the fiscal measures recently announced by the Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici. The measures are contested by the countrys president, Klaus Iohannis, by banks and big energy and communications companies. The Social Democratic Party, the senior partner in the coalition, says though that the measures will boost Romanian economy. The measures adopted under the emergency ordinance include, among other things, capping the price of gas and electricity for the next three years for domestic consumers and lowering commission to private pension funds from 2.5% to 1%. Another measure concerns taxation of financial-banking institutions according to the evolution of ROBOR, the reference indicator used by banks in lending, which, at least in the past year, has fluctuated to the detriment of both companies and natural persons. Also, the Romanian Government has approved the setting up of an investment and development fund, which will provide funding for local community and university development projects, with a budget of approximately 10 billion Euros. As of January 1st, all employees with receive two minimum wages per year in the form of food allowance.

STOCK EXCHANGE – The Financial Supervisory Authority has announced the commencement of an analysis of the transactions carried out at the Bucharest Stock Exchange on Wednesday, as there are suspicions of abuse. If the investigation concludes the law was broken, the Authority will take measures that will be made public. On Wednesday, the Bucharest Stock Exchange registered a record low. The biggest losses were registered by the shares of banks and energy companies. The plunge occurred after the Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici had announced a number of measures, which have already been adopted by means of an emergency ordinance.

1989 REVOLUTION – Events commemorating the heroes of the December 1989 anti-Communist Revolution are unfolding all across the country. In Bucharest, the events are hosted by the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, the Romanian Television and the Telephone Palace. According to the press office of the Romanian Patriarchy, all orthodox churches and monasteries in Romania and abroad are holding today a special mass for the heroes who sacrificed their lives in December 1989. On December 22nd, 1989, dozens of thousands of Bucharesters took to the streets and forced dictator Nicolae Ceausescu to flee on board a helicopter. On the same day, public institutions were attacked with firearms. More than 1000 people died and some 3,400 were wounded in the shootings in Romania, the only country in the Eastern Bloc where the regime was toppled violently and the communist rulers were executed.

UNEMPLOYMENT – In November, the unemployment rate in Romania stood at 3.3%, lower than in the previous month and under the value registered in November 2017. According to the National Employment Agency, the total number of unemployed individuals, in late November, was 289,000 people, of whom 57,000 were receiving unemployment benefits. Most of the unemployed were aged 40 to 49.

EUROBAROMETER – 52% of the Romanians have a positive image about the EU, as compared to 43% , which is the European average. According to a Eurobarometer survey, the number of Romanians who have a positive image about the EU is on the rise and above the European average. Half of the Romanians trust the EU and belive that their voice counts in the EU, 56% of the Romanians have a positive view of the situation of the European economy, and 48% of Romanians are optimistic about the labour market situation. The survey also shows that most Europeans believe, for the first time, that their voice matters in the EU. Moreover, 20 years since the introduction of the single currency, support for the economic and monetary union and the Euro remains at a record high, with three quarters of the respondents in the Eurozone in favour of the single currency. On the other hand, immigration remains the main concern at EU level. It is mentioned twice more often than terrorism.

TRAVEL – More than 120,000 people entered Romania and some 82,000 have exited it in the past 24 hours, according to the General Border Police Inspectorate. The institutions recalls that, by accessing the on-line application Average waiting times at border crossing points open to international traffic, people can visualize all border crossing points and the traffic situation, differentiated in various colours. The Romanian Police too have announced that more than 8,500 police officers from public order and safety structures will be on duty across the country in the coming period. In another move, the Romanian Railway Company has increased the number of trains leaving from Bucharest to the big cities and mountain resorts in the country, until January 6th, 2019.