March 26, 2019

march 26, 2019 A roundup of domestic and international news

CONSULTATIONS - President Klaus Iohannis is today consulting with representatives of civil society regarding the justice referendum. The President last week said he was almost determined to call a referendum coinciding with the European Parliament election of May 26. The president's announcement followed the Constitutional Court's ruling sanctioning a referendum on the same day as the European Parliament election. 


MEETING - Romania's Prime Minister Viorica Dancila met with US Secretary of Trade Wilbur Ross during her visit to the United States of America. On this occasion, Dancila highlighted the importance of consolidating economic cooperation as part of the Strategic Partnership between the two states. According to a Government release made public today, Viorica Dancila presented the measures the Government has taken to ensure an appealing business sector by increasing the budget of investment in key fields, simplifying the legislation on public-private partnership as well as awarding tax benefits to companies carrying out investment with a major economic impact. During her visit talks focused on the achievements reported so far by the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU on several files of major importance for the development of the business sector, such as energy, digitization and finance. 


YOUTH - The European Union Youth Conference kicks off today in Bucharest, organized by the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The main topics on the three-day agenda of the conference are the integration of young people on the labour market and improving dialogue between the youth and the authorities. Taking part are some 250 representatives of young people and line ministers from Member States. Also represented are states in the Eastern Partnership and the West Balkans, European and international bodies in the field of youth and labour. 


BREXIT - British MPs on Monday evening voted in favour of taking control of the UK's scheduled withdrawal from the community bloc. The move is unprecedented, aimed at offering MPs the possibility to choose a solution to overcome the Brexit deadlock. MPs on Wednesday will vote a series of motions to decide whether or not they support the various Brexit scenarios, which include the organization of a new referendum, a no-deal Brexit or revoking Article 50. We recall Parliament has twice rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's negotiated agreement with the EU. At the summit organized last week in Brussels, EU leaders accepted a postponement of Brexit, originally slated for March 29, and gave the UK two deadlines. In the first scenario, if Parliament finally approves the original Brexit agreement, the deadline for leaving the EU will be May 22. In the second scenario, if the agreement falls through, the deadline for Brexit will be April 12, during which time London is expected to choose the direction in which it is headed. Meanwhile, Brussels announced it has concluded its 'no-deal' preparations. 


EU-CHINA - Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emanuel Macron and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker are today holding talks in Paris with Chinese President Xi Jinping about future relations between Europe and China. The Chinese President is on a tour of Europe to gather support for his project "The New Silk Road", aimed at linking China to Europe by means of a thousand-billion-dollar investment by 2030. Several EU states have signed protocols expressing their desire to join the project, and last week Europe's third-largest economy, Italy, currently facing severe economic imbalances, became the first G7 country to sing. European Commission representatives have called for the immediate establishment of a joint strategy, concerned with Chinese investment in key sectors in Member States, such as electricity grids, high-speed rail networks and port infrastructure. 


FOOTBALL - Romania's national football team is today playing the Faeroe Islands at home in Group F of the 2020 European Championship preliminaries. Romania on Saturday lost 2-1 to Sweden away from home. The group also includes Spain, Norway, Malta. The first two teams will advance to the championship. On Monday, Romania's Under-21 team defeated Denmark 1-nil in a friendly game played in Spain. Our under-21 team will play in the 2019 European Championships hosted by Italy and San Marino in Group C, alongside England, France and Croatia. 


TENNIS - Romanian tennis player world no. 3 Simona Halep has qualified in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open in the US, a tournament with total prizes of some 9 million dollars. The second-see ousted Venus Williams of the United States (43 WTA) in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Halep will next take on 18th-seed Qiang Wang of China. 

(translated by V. Palcu)



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Publicat: 2019-03-26 13:45:00
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