November 14, 2013
A roundup of news from Romania
România Internațional, 14.11.2013, 13:58
Healthcare employees will be on a warning strike on the 25th of November before going on an indefinite all-out strike 3 days later, healthcare trade unions have announced. Unhappy that their demands have not been met, healthcare employees call for the resignation of the health minister Eugen Niocolaescu. They request the allocation of at least 6% of the GDP to the healthcare system, legislation guaranteeing their professional independence, a special salary law for the medical system and better working conditions. In recent weeks, healthcare employees have staged a number of protests and picketed the government and health ministry headquarters.
Romania’s economy grew by 1.6% in the third quarter of the year compared to the second quarter, exceeding analysts’ expectations, according to figures made public by the National Institute of Statistics. The GDP also grew by 4.1% compared to the similar period in 2012. The authorities in Bucharest are expecting a 2.2% economic growth rate in 2013 and 2014. The representatives of the International Monetary Fund said after talks with the Bucharest authorities that the real GDP increase has consolidated as a result of a good agricultural production and robust exports.
The government today approves the state budget bill for next year prior to submitting it to Parliament. The new budget bill is based on a 2.2% economic growth rate and a 2.2% budget deficit and provides considerable increase in the allocations of the ministries responsible for healthcare, regional development and public administration, finance and agriculture. On the other hand, the ministries of culture, economy foreign affairs and justice will receive less money. Also today, the government will be approving a controversial bill on the country’s descentralisation, before calling for a vote of confidence in Parliament next week.
The prime minister of the Republic of Moldova, Iurie Leanca, pays a visit to neighbouring Romania before leaving for Brussels together with his counterpart Victor Ponta. The two officials will have talks with the president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Durao Barosso and the European commissioners for energy and transport about specific measures to support the Republic of Moldova. The joint visit by the Romanian and Moldovan prime ministers comes ahead of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius, where Moldova hopes to initial its association agreement with the European Union.
Romania must settle the issue of the gold mining project in Rosia Montana as soon as possible because the investors’ patience is running out, said Dragos Tanase, the general manager of the Canadian company wishing to exploit the gold and silver deposits in Rosia Montana. This week, a special parliamentary committee rejected a government bill that would have given green light to the mining project. The use of cyanide during mining works, which according to experts, may cause irreversible damage to the environment and destroy the Roman traces in the area, have led to the biggest street protests in post-communist Romania.
The Constitutional Court of Romania is debating a request by president Traian Basescu referring the amending of the referendum law. According to a new bill passed by the Chamber of Deputies last May, the required voter turnout for a referendum to be valid was reduced from 50 to 30%. President Basescu argues the bill contains provisions that violate constitutional principles related to the exercise of sovereignty by the people. The minimum voter turnout was the subject of much controversy in the summer of 2012, when a referendum to impeach the president was held in Romania. The referendum was invalid because less than 50% of the voters turned up at the polls, although the majority of those who did said yes to impeachment.
