November 17, 2017

The National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union, in opposition, on Friday filed a censure motion in Parliament, against the government made up of the Social Democratic Party-the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats

Newsroom, 17.11.2017, 14:03

CENSURE MOTION – The National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union, in opposition, on Friday filed a censure motion in Parliament, against the government made up of the Social Democratic Party-the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. The motion has been signed by 148 MPs. The motion, initiated after the government amended the Fiscal Code, is also backed by the Peoples Movement Party and by the independent MPs. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania will not sign the motion and the Pro Romania party, led 8by the former PM Victor Ponta will not back the motion, either, saying a replacement of the PSD government with a PNL cabinet would not be a good solution for Romania. Amendments to the Fiscal Code provides for the transfer of social contributions from employer to employee and a cut in income tax from 16 to 10% as of January 1, 2018. Those contesting the measure say their incomes will actually decrease, and many others will run the risk of loosing their jobs. In exchange, Social-Democrat PM Mihai Tudose claims that, by the fresh fiscal reform, much more money will go to the budget and the pension fund, and companies will benefit from simplified procedures. Over the past few weeks, against the backdrop of the ruling coalitions plans to amend the Fiscal Code and the Justice Laws, people took to the streets in the big cities across the country, particularly in Bucharest.

SUMMIT – Romanias President Klaus Iohannis is today attending the Social Summit on promoting equitable jobs and economic growth in the EU, venued by Gothenburg, in Sweden. The summit brings together EU heads of state and government, social partners as well as other key players. The summit includes an introductory plenary session and three thematic sessions on access to the labour market, the current situation on the labour market and the transition between jobs on the labour market. The Romanian President said Romania will stand for a new education system adapted to the needs of the economy, so that the best solutions be found to create jobs for young people, on the one hand, and to properly train youngsters to successfully enter the labour market, on the other. According to FP, the summit is part of the offensive launched by Brussels and Sweden to regain the citizens confidence in face of rising populism which renders Europe fragile. After the Brexit shock and against the backdrop of growing Euro-scepticism in the EU member states, including in Germany and Austria as of late, the European Commission is determined to show that the EU is not a mere big market, but it wants to reduce inequalities.

TRANSCARPATHIA – Students and teachers in the schools with teaching in the Romanian language, in the Transcarpathia region in south-western Ukraine, which is home to over 40,000 ethnic Romanians, are currently being assessed by a commission of the Education Ministry in Kiev. The teachers are outraged, saying the evaluation, which hasnt been made for years, would be aimed at proving that the schools of the national ethnic minorities would not be proficient enough, teachers would not be able to teach at a high quality standard and pupils would not be properly educated and ready to take national evaluation tests. Teachers say the evaluation will actually be a disguised form of exerting pressure and of intimidation, following the contested education law in Ukraine, which infringes upon the constitutional rights of the ethnic minorities to study in their languages. In late October, experts of the Venice Commission paid a visit to Kiev to assess the newly created situation following the adoption of the education law, which has been criticised also from Bucharest.

NICOSIA – The state secretary for bilateral and strategic affairs in the Euro-Atlantic area, George Ciamba, has held consultations in Nicosia, with several Cypriot officials together with whom he approached the migration issue as well as the priorities of the Romanian presidency of the EU Council, in the first half of 2019. During the meeting with the Cypriot foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides, George Ciamba has underlined the interest taken by Romania in rendering the dialogue more dynamic, given the traditional cooperation between the two states, and has also referred to the presence of a large Romanian community in Cyprus and of a Cypriot business community in Romania. In the field of migration, the officials reiterated their support for the EUs actions to strengthen cooperation with foreign partners, origin and transit countries, and for further implementing the EU-Turkey Declaration. Relative to the Eastern Neighbourhood, the officials underlined the need to further support the Republic of Moldova on its European path. The Cypriot officials reiterated their support for Bucharests candidacy for a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the 2020 – 2021 period and for Romanias Schengen accession.

TRAVEL FAIR– The 38th edition of Romanias Travel Fair bring together until Sunday over 200 tour operators and travel agencies. 12 foreign countries from around the globe chose to have their own stands at the fair, just like Romanian county councils which try to promote Romanias travel destinations.