December 16, 2019 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 16.12.2019, 20:12

SESSION Romanian president Klaus
Iohannis on Monday said the state’s efforts to find out the truth about the
anti-communist revolution of 1989 had been delayed unacceptably long, adding that those guilty of the bloody events 30 years ago must
be brought to justice. The statement was made during the solemn Parliament
session in Bucharest devoted to 30 years that have passed since the Romanian
Revolution of 1989. In turn, Romania’s Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu has
underlined in his message on this occasion that from an isolated country back
in the time of the communist regime, Romania went to the position of a member
of the most important international organizations – EU and NATO. The Synod of
the Romanian Orthodox Church also went on a solemn session during which
Patriarch Daniel referred to the importance of the sacrifice made by the heroes
in December for our freedom today. The European Parliament on Monday marked
three decades from the Romanian anti-communist revolution.

MEETING The
need for concrete measures at global level to fight climate changes but also
the importance of promoting multilateralism were the themes tackled by the head
of the Romanian diplomacy Bogdan Aurescu at the Asia-Europe meeting held over
15 – 16 of December in Madrid. Aurescu said that Romania is determined to
fulfill the pledges it took through the Paris accord and the conferences in
Katowice and Madrid. The Romanian official highlighted the strong political
signal given by the latest European Council with the objective of a
climate-neutral Europe by 2050. On the sidelines of the event, Aurescu held
bilateral talks with his counterparts in Japan, Singapore, Korea, Vietnam,
Kazakhstan and the Netherlands. The first ASEM summit was held in Bangkok in
1996 and the present format includes 51 participant countries plus the EU and
the ASEAN Secretariat. Through its informal character the forum offers the
proper environment for debates and discussions that could allow for further
developments at a formal level. Romania has been attending the ASEM forum since
2007.

CSAT
Romania’s Higher Defence Council (CSAT) is to convene in Bucharest on Tuesday
under the chairmanship of the country’s president Klaus Iohannis. High on the
agenda are budget proposals for the year 2020 of the institutions involved in the
country’s defence and security. CSAT is an administrative authority in charge
of the organization and unitary coordination of the activities concerning
Romania’s national security and defence.

CAP The Romanian Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development Nechita-Adrian Oros is attending in Brussels
a two-day meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council, focusing on the
presentation of the intermediary report on the reform of the Common
Agricultural Policy (CAP) beyond 2020. According to a communiqué issued by the
line ministry in Bucharest, the participants will be discussing the rules on
support for the CAP strategic plans, namely the ones regarding the funding,
managing and monitoring CAP and the rules regarding the common organization of
agricultural markets.

COST
According to Eurostat, in the second quarter of 2019, the hourly labour cost
went up by 2.6% in the Eurozone and by 3.1% in the EU, as against the same
period last year. Romania was reported among the countries with the highest
annual increase, 13.2% wage costs, and 12.1% non-wage costs. The hourly labour
costs include not only the wages and salaries paid to employees but also
non-wage costs, mainly social contributions payable by the employer.

(translated by bill)