September 10, 2024

Newsroom, 10.09.2024, 14:24

EC – Romania could receive, in the future European Commission makeup, the portfolio for social rights and housing, a position also with competences related to salaries, pensions and benefits, according to Romanian government sources. According to the same sources, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu had a discussion with the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, in which MEP Roxana Mânzatu also participated, the latter being Romania’s proposal for the position of European Commissioner. Ursula von der Leyen will announce  the allocation of portfolios in the future European Commission on Wednesday.

SENATE – The Romanian Senate starts debating an emergency order that sets a three-day deadline for toxicology test results, following the testing of drivers in traffic. If the results of the anti-doping tests, carried out only by forensic medicine institutions, will not be ready in time, the drivers will get their driving licenses back. Also in the Senate, the draft law on the introduction of the European minimum wage in Romania is being debated by the expert committees. The normative act establishes a new mechanism by which the minimum salary will be updated annually, so that it accounts for at least half of the average salary. On the other hand, deputies from the labor committee have on their agenda this week several legislative projects with measures for people with disabilities, which concern facilitating their access to public transportation or to polling stations.

CARMAKING – At the Dacia-Renault factories in Pitesti (southern Romania) a program of voluntary departures has begun, with employees being compensated with substantial sums of money, proportional to their seniority in the unit. The management of the factory hopes to thus reduce the staff by several hundred employees, especially from the sections that will be reorganized following some automation processes. The premiums are 22,000 lei for seniorities of up to two years and can reach 150,000 lei for those with more than 16 years. During the campaign of voluntary departures two years ago, approximately 500 employees benefited from these financial rights.

CHISINAU – 16 national theaters from Romania and the Republic of Moldova have met starting today until September 22, in Chisinau, where the 9th edition of the “Reunion of Romanian National Theaters” is taking place. During this period, the public in the Moldovan capital  can take part in 46 cultural events, indoor and outdoor performances, eight radio show auditions and six premieres. There will also be book launches, meetings with people of culture and personalities from the theater world. The event in Chisinau takes place under the slogan “European Connections” and benefits from the high patronage of the presidents of Romania and the Republic of Moldova, Klaus Iohannis and Maia Sandu, respectively. The guest of honor of the festival is the “Ivan Franko” National Drama Theater from Kyiv.

FOOTBALL  – The Romanian national football team defeated the Lithuanian national squad, 3-1, on Monday evening, in Bucharest, in Group C2 of the Nations League. Winners also in Kosovo, on Friday ( 3-nil), the Romanians are group leaders, with 6 points. Romania will play the following matches next month, on October 12 against Cyprus and on October 15 against Lithuania, both away. The 2024/25 Nations League will also have a direct effect on the European qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. The best four group winners from the Nations League, excluding the teams that finished in the top two places in the qualifying groups, will participate in the play-off matches for the 2026 World Championship, along with all 12 second place teams from the classic preliminaries.

SCHOOL– In Romania, the new school year comes with a series of important provisions. Students from the 8th and 12th grades will finish school earlier, and the exam calendar, both for the National Assessment and for the Baccalaureate, has been changed. For those who will not take the exams, the courses will last 36 weeks and will end on June 20, 2025. Also from this year, students will receive a grade at the end of each module, access to education institutions will be prohibited with the mobile phone and special rooms will be created for students who disturb classes. In the new school year, the national plan to combat school violence is applied in all education units in Romania.

COMPETITION – The HBFS Robotics team of the Politehnica Bucharest National University of Science and Technology  returned to the country with two gold, two silver and one bronze medals from the biggest robotics championship in the world, “RobotChallenge” 2024, held in Beijing, China. More than 5,000 participants from 31 countries  took part in the competition. Romania ranked fifth in the general ranking of countries in terms of number of medals obtained, leaving behind numerous states with tradition and influence in the field of robotics.