Newsflash June 30 2013
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România Internațional, 30.06.2013, 15:42
Romanian President, Traian Basescu, has announced that Monday the line-authorities will make public the National Strategy for Agriculture, valid until 2030. The document has been drafted by the presidential commission for agriculture, set up in 2009. In another move, the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Dacian Ciolos, said in Bucharest that Romania will receive for agriculture some 20 billion Euros from the EU, in the 2014-2020 period. He underlined that the funds will be used for subsidies, rural development and investments in the field.
Romania’s legislature will meet on Monday, in an extraordinary session, to adopt the new statute of parliamentarians. Last week, the document was rejected for the third time by the Constitutional Court, this time upon a notification by Romania’s President, Traian Basescu. The objections made by the head of state were mainly related to an article according to which the Prosecutor’s Office had to produce concrete and grounded evidence in case MPs are taken into custody, arrested or have their houses searched. Because the new statute, which also provides for a cut in spending, hasn’t taken effect yet, the financial situation of the Romanian Parliament is a delicate one. Thus, the cumulated losses already exceed 20 million lei, that is some 4.5 million Euros.
As of Monday, domestic consumers in Romania will pay 8% more for natural gas, and the industrial ones some 3% more. Producers in the food industry have already announced price-hikes, of up to 15%, because of higher gas prices. Consumers will also pay up to 10% more for water in several cities and towns across the country, depending on the decisions to be made by the local authorities.
Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean on Sunday attended “The EU-Gulf Cooperation Council” Ministerial Meeting held in Manama, Bahrain. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Titus Corlatean made public Romania’s official stand on the Middle East peace process. “The EU-Gulf Cooperation Council” Ministerial Meeting, now at its 23rd edition, has been devoted to the new Joint Action Program for the 2013-2016 period. The Gulf Cooperation Council is made up of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar.
On July the 1st, Croatia officially becomes the 28th member of the European Union. It is the second of the six former Yugoslav republics to join the EU, after Slovenia, in 2004. Facing a high unemployment rate, Croatia had to implement several reform packages to be able to join the community block, which is-in its turn- going through a deep economic and financial crisis.
130 cyclists from 13 countries are participating, as of Sunday, in the 50th edition of Romania’s Cycling Tour, which will come to an end on July the 6th. According to the organisers, the itinerary is 1,050 km long, with a difference of altitude of 2,000 meters between the lowest and highest points of the cycling route.
The pair made up of Romanian tennis player Horia Tecau and Belorusian Max Mirnyi has qualified for the third round at Wimbledon. In the second round, Tecau and Mirnyi defeated the Australian pair Samuel Groth/Chris Guccione 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/2), 7-5.
