The Week in Review 17-24 November, 2018

A selection of the week's events

Roxana Vasile, 17.11.2018, 13:54

Romania in the attention of the European Parliament

The European Commission and Parliament on Tuesday warned the ruling coalition in Romania made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats that the observance of the rule of law and the fight against corruption in Romania have regressed in the past year. The European Commissions annual evaluation report under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism includes 8 new recommendations for Romania, adding to the 12 made last year, out of the Commissions wish that the MCV process should be concluded during its current mandate. The Commission has asked Romania, in a very firm message, to call off the implementation of the changes to the justice laws and the subsequent emergency ordinances and revise them in line with the recommendations of the Venice Commission and the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO). In its turn, the European Parliament passed with a wide majority a resolution expressing concerns about the way in which the justice laws were modified and also about the weakening of the rule of law in Romania. The European assessments are like two bad grades for the current governance, says President Klaus Iohannis, a consistent critic of the cabinet made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats:

Klaus Iohannis: “These multiple changes and intentions to change the justice laws and the Criminal Codes have drawn public attention in a negative way. These things are extremely detrimental to Romania. Obviously, these two documents are practically telling us that Romania slipped back to the point it was 11 years ago, before joining the Union.

The Social Democratic Prime Minister, Viorica Dancila has voiced her disappointment with the report:

Viorica Dancila: “We cannot agree with the setting of additional recommendations through which we are asked to ignore constitutional rules and accept what no other state would. Such a request makes the objectives of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism impossible to reach, in the context in which rules change by the day.

Conclusions of the IMF mission in Romania

Economic activity in Romania remains strong, with unemployment at a record low, is one of the conclusions of an IMF staff visit to Romania, the head of the IMF mission to Romania and Bulgaria, Jaewoo Lee has said at the end of a one-week visit to Bucharest. He has also said that in spite of several years of economic growth, the budget deficit has gone up rather than down, as it should during good times, and the 2018 target remains at risk without further measures. IMF experts also argue that increases in public-sector salaries and planned changes to pension benefits should be reassessed for their negative implications for fiscal sustainability and long-term growth.

Romania and the EU Council presidency

George Ciamba is, as of this week, Romanias new minister delegate for European affairs. A career diplomat with the rank of ambassador, and, until recently, a state secretary with the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Ciamba is replacing Victor Negrescu, who resigned at the end of last week. Romania will take over, on January 1st 2019, the EU Council presidency and Victor Negrescu was the one in charge with its preparation and coordination. PM Viorica Dancila has given assurances that, in spite of the situation created by Negrescus resignation, Bucharest is fully prepared to carry out its 6-month EU Council presidency.

President Klaus Iohannis travels to Paris and London

President Klaus Iohannis has made two visits abroad in recent days. He first travelled to Paris, at the invitation of his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, to attend the 100th celebrations of the end of WWI. The Romanian president used the opportunity of his French trip to hold a meeting, at the Romanian embassy, with Romanian university, MA and PhD students from the Paris region involved in academic research. The following day, he travelled to London to attend an official reception at the Buckingham Palace to celebrate the 70th birthday anniversary of Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne. Klaus Iohannis was also supposed to meet prime minister Theresa May, but the talks were cancelled by the UK side because a cabinet meeting to discuss the Brexit agreement took longer than expected.

Gaudeamus and RadiRo – two events produced by Radio Romania

Bucharest has been playing host since Wednesday to the Gaudeamus International Book Fair. Book lovers have until Sunday to attend the many events scheduled and take advantage of the considerable discounts offered by the over 300 participating publishers. On the day Gaudeamus ends, another major event produced by Radio Romania begins: the RadiRo International Festival of Radio Orchestras. Its line-up features eight symphonic and four jazz concerts. The participants include MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra from Germany, the BBC Philharmonic from Great Britain, the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, Switzerland, and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra from Ireland.