17-23 June 2018

A look at the main headline-making events this past week

Roxana Vasile, 23.06.2018, 12:24

Turmoil on the Romanian political
and social arena

The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest, the
decision-making legislative body in this particular case, on Monday endorsed a
bill modifying the Code of Criminal Procedure, after it had been passed by the
Senate as well. Among other changes, a first instance ruling that drops charges
against a defender cannot be reverted unless new evidence is produced. Criminal
prosecution cannot take longer than a year, and unless prosecutors manage to
indict an individual during this time, the case is closed by default. According
to another change, testifying against an offender entails a reduction of one’s
own sentence only if it is done within a year from the offence.

The ruling coalition made up of the Social
Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats says that these
changes to the Code of Criminal Procedure are aimed at bringing the national
legislation in line with the rulings of the Constitutional Court of Romania,
the European directives on the presumption of innocence and the suggestions made
by magistrates’ associations.

The National Liberal Party and Save Romania
Union, in opposition, said, on the contrary, that these changes jeopardize the
rule of law, and they decided to refer the bill to the Constitutional Court. A
similar move will be made by the High Court of Cassation and Justice.

The changes did not go unnoticed by many
Romanians. Thousands took to the streets in Bucharest and other big cities, to
protest the changes to the Code and the recent changes of the justice laws. The
protesters demanded the resignation of the Dancila Cabinet, which, according to
them and to the parliamentary Opposition, is destroying not only the judicial
system but also the national economy. This is why the National Liberal Party,
Save Romania Union and People’s Movement Party, in opposition, tabled a
no-confidence motion in Parliament. It will be read out in plenary meeting on
Monday and discussed and voted on this coming Wednesday.

The ruling coalition
has, in principle, a comfortable majority in Parliament. However, the key
players in the coalition, the Social Democrats, are going through a very
difficult moment, after on Thursday the party leader Liviu Dragnea was
sentenced by the High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest to 3 and a
half years in prison. He was found guilty of inciting abuse of office, back
when he was the president of the Teleorman County Council. At that time he
instructed that 2 party members should be fictitiously employed with the County
Directorate for Child Protection and Social Assistance. The 2 were paid from
public funds although they worked exclusively for the Social Democratic Party.
The Social Democrat leader denied the accusations.

Preparations
for Romania’s presidency of the EU

Against the backdrop of the domestic turmoil,
Romania is getting ready to take over, starting in January 2019, the rotating
presidency of the Council of the European Unions. In the first half of 2019
Bucharest’s priorities will focus, among others, on ensuring a durable and
equitable development of all member states and on obtaining concrete results
for the European citizens, said the PM Viorica Dancila on Wednesday in a speech
delivered before Parliament. In turn, the Romanian minister delegate for
European affairs, Victor Negrescu, gave assurances, in Brussels, that Romania
was ready to take over the EU Council presidency on January 1, 2019. In his
talks with several EU commissioners, the Romanian official spoke about
Romania’s priorities for next year in such fields as budget and human resources,
research, energy and competition.

Victor Negrescu said that Romania wanted the
cohesion policy, which is related to economic, social and territorial
convergence, to be the focal point of the European budget. As regards the
agricultural policy, Bucharest wants to take measures to bridge the existing
gaps related to subsidies, the support for young farmers and the competitive
agricultural exploitations that bring quality products on the European market. Other
domains on Romania’s agenda of priorities are research and innovation. Romania
wants equal and equitable access to resources in the field and equal pay for
all researchers, no matter the country they come from.

Torrential
rains and storms wreak havoc in Romania

For several years now, Romania has been facing
extreme weather phenomena, which are atypical of the country’s temperate
continental climate. It no longer has spring and autumn seasons, summers are
unusually scorching, snow has become scarce in winter in some regions and
tornadoes have recently emerged in the area. Starting the previous weekend,
against the backdrop of very high temperatures for this time of the year, many
regions of Romania have been faced with extreme weather phenomena: torrential
rain, thunder storms, strong winds and hailstorms. Tens of bridges were taken
by overflowing waters that covered many roads and extensive areas of farming
land. Households, company headquarters, cars, fountains and roads have been
damaged and trees were taken down by the raging waters. Power outages were
reported in several localities. Bucharest was also faced with torrential rains
that affected traffic in certain areas.