November 25, 2013 UPDATE
A roundup of news from Romania
România Internațional, 25.11.2013, 19:46
COOPERATION — China is a privileged partner for Romania and the political, economic, cultural and educational relations between the two countries are excellent, said Monday in Bucharest the Romanian PM Victor Ponta after meeting his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang. The Chinese PM started Monday a 4-day visit to Romania, the first by a Chinese PM in the past 19 years. The Romanian and Chinese governments have signed several memorandums of understanding in the energy, sanitary-veterinary, industrial, IT and cultural fields and a joint declaration was adopted on strengthening bilateral cooperation. The Chinese PM will also be received by President Traian Basescu and will deliver a speech in Parliament. He will participate in the China-Central and Eastern Europe Economic Forum and in a meeting of heads of government from these countries.
SUMMIT— The Romanian President, Traian Basescu, told the public radio station on Monday that Romania’s message at the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius would be that the ex-Soviet Republic of Moldova should be treated according to’ its own realities’ and not in the ‘Brussels bureaucratic style’. He pointed out that the summit is important because it will mark for the first time Chisinau’s official attempt to come closer to the EU and break away from the former Soviet Union’s area of influence. The Republic of Moldova is to initial the association and free trade agreements with the EU at the Vilnius summit.
STRIKE – The employees affiliated to the Sanitas trade union federation went on a 2-hour warning strike on Monday to protest against under-funding in the healthcare sector. The strike followed failed talks with the health minister Eugen Nicolăescu. The dialogue with the authorities continues today. Protesters say they are prepared to start an all-out strike on the 28th of November. They call for the allocation of 6% of the GDP for the healthcare sector, higher salaries, the unblocking of jobs and a special collective agreement tailored to the system. Minister Nicolăescu says the sector would benefit from more money if trade unions agreed to reorganisation. The ministry has promised to unblock 1,200 healthcare jobs for doctors and nursing staff.
EC— A European Commission delegation started on Monday in Bucharest a new assessment of the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification in the field of justice, set up after Romania’s EU accession in 2007. Early this month the EC said that the Mechanism was functioning well and that results were good but that they wanted to check themselves if the recommendations made in the latest report have been complied with. The next report on Romania’s progress in the field of justice and the anti-corruption fight will be published in January 2014.
BUDGET – The budget bill for 2014 will this week be debated by the Parliament’s budget and finance committees. The ruling Social Liberal Union wants the bill to be passed by mid December. President Traian Basescu says, however, that he will not sign the bill into law unless the government eliminates the increase in the price of fuel by 7 eurocents and that he is even prepared to challenge the bill in Constitutional Court. The opposition has also criticised the budget bill proposed by the government, with the Liberal Democratic Party describing it as an unprecedented attack on taxpayers.
