December 13, 2014 UPDATE

A look at the main stories in Romania today.

România Internațional, 13.12.2014, 12:03

Parliament will start debating the state and social security budget bill for 2015 next Friday. Prime minister Victor Ponta emphasised the bill does not provide for any new taxes and duties, but only the economic and social measures already announced, such as the cut in the social security contribution and the exemption from taxes on reinvested profit. A number of ministries will be allocated more funds, such as education, healthcare and agriculture, while the defence ministry will benefit from an increase of 3% of the GDP. The 2015 budget is based on a 2.5% economic growth rate, an annual inflation rate of 2.2% and a budget deficit level of 1.8%.

The revision of the Constitution and the amendment of the election law are the main priorities of the new programme of the ruling coalition. Prime minister Victor Ponta has met the political leaders who will join the reshuffled cabinet, which will be presented in Parliament on Monday. Following the departure of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians from the ruling coalition, the prime minister said he relied on the support of the National Union for the Progress of Romania, the Conservative Party and the members of the future Liberal Reformist Party led by the former prime minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu. Mr Ponta said an amended Constitution would restrict the time spent in office by local elected officials and MPs to two consecutive terms. The ruling coalition also hopes to finalise the bill on postal and electronic voting next year. Generally, the government programme for the next two years has 15 main lines of action, with emphasis on combating tax evasion and the absorption of European funds.

The Social Democrats are holding a meeting of the National Executive Committee on Sunday, where their leader and the country’s prime minister Victor Ponta will present the make-up of his reshuffled cabinet. The new cabinet will include, apart from the Nation for the Progress of Romania and the Conservative Party, the still unregistered Liberal party of Calin Popescu Tariceanu. The new Victor Ponta government will be presented in Parliament on Monday.

The Council of Representatives of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania has officially approved the party’s exit from government. The president of the party, Kelemen Hunor, said the Union will thus pay heed to the message sent by the ethnic Hungarian community at the recent presidential elections. He also said this party must do its best to enter Parliament at the next parliamentary elections in 2016. Hunor explained that by walking out of the government coalition, his party is neither acting against the Social Democrats, in power, nor joining forces with the Liberals, in opposition.

A competition has been launched in Romania for the title of European Capital of Culture in 2021. Interested cities have ten months to prepare and submit their applications. Romania and Greece will each be able to nominate one city to win the title of European Capital of Culture in 2021, following a decision by the European Commission and Parliament. Eight Romanian cities have so far announced their intention to apply. In 2007, Sibiu was the first Romanian city to win this title.