September 26, 2023

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 26.09.2023, 13:55

Budget. Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu is today presenting Parliament
with a set of measures aimed at reducing the budget deficit and for which the
government, made up of the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal
Party, is assuming responsibility. MPs can make amendments to the bill by this
afternoon and the opposition can file a no-confidence motion within three days
of the presentation of the bill in Parliament. Among other provisions, the bill
eliminates a number of tax reliefs for IT and agriculture workers and introduces
a turnover tax for big companies and banks. The Economic and Social Committee,
an independent body, has warned that covering the budget deficit through higher
taxes for the private sector may have adverse effects.

Visas. Romania may be included in
the US Visa Waiver Program in 2025 at the earliest, said American ambassador to
Bucharest Kathleen Kavalec.
She explained that this timeline is not guaranteed, being dependant on the annual
measurement of the visa rejection rate. To be able to enter the Visa Waiver
Program, Romania’s rejection rate must be below 3%. In 2020, the rate stood at
10% and in 2021 it grew to 17%.

Pollution. The European Union is
preparing to adopt the legal framework for the implementation of the new Euro 7
standards all car makers must comply with on the EU market. As not all member
states agreed to the proposals made, the Spanish presidency of the EU Council
presented a new draft. Following pressure from a number of countries, including
Romania, EU industry ministers voted in favour of a more diluted version of the
greenhouse gas emissions norms to prevent car prices from growing too much and
not to halt investments in electric cars. The draft maintains the emissions
limits and the testing conditions for cars and light vehicles at the level of
the Euro 6 standards, but sets lower limits for trucks and heavy vehicles and
new limits for particulate emissions for breaks and tires. Air pollution currently
causes 70,000 deaths a year in the European Union.

Awards. Morocco, a
film directed by Emanuel Pârvu, won the Grand Prize and the trophy of the Film
Makers’ Union for 2022 at an awards ceremony hosted on Monday night by the
National Opera House in Bucharest. The film also won the best director and best
female actor in a supporting role, which went to Emilia Popescu. Iulian
Postelnicu won the award for best male actor in a lead role for his part in the
black comedy Men of Deeds. Ana Dumitraşcu won the award for best female actor
in a lead role for her part in Monica Stan’s Immaculate, the story of a young
woman who entered a rehab clinic. The film also won a special jury prize. (CM)