October 4, 2019

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 04.10.2019, 14:00

ELECTION – The Romanian
Foreign Ministry has sent the list of polling stations proposals for the
presidential election of November to the Permanent Election Authority. The list
also includes the 78 stations that will be created based on voters who
registered online on votstrainatate.ro. By October 19, the Ministry will send
new proposals for the creation of polling stations abroad. As regards postal
voting, the Permanent Election Authority says the Romanian Post Service has
already sent over 10,000 envelopes to Romanians living in the Diaspora, with
another 4,500 due to be sent over the coming period. The election campaign will
kick off on October 12. The first round of the presidential election is
scheduled for November 10, with the runoff set for November 24. A total of 14
candidates are running in the presidential race.

HEARINGS – The
European Parliament is considering the organization of new hearings to give a
second chance to Sylvie Goulard of France, nominated for the position of
Commissioner for the Internal Market, Industry and Defense, but also to other
candidates who failed to convince they are sufficiently trained to manage their
given portfolios in the upcoming European Commission. Sylvie Goulard, who is
suspected of being involved in the fictitious employment of a parliamentary
assistant, is not the only candidate who this week has had troubles in their
hearings. Swedish Ylva Johansson, nominated for Home Affairs and Polish Janusz
Wojciechowski, nominated for Agriculture were unsuccessful in their hearings. A
second round of hearings could be held on October 14 and 15, days before the
first meeting of the new European Commission. The new candidates nominated by
Hungary and Romania will appear before the EP committees at this time, after
the candidacies of László Trócsányi
and Rovana Plumb were dismissed by the Legal Committee. Headed by Germany’s
Ursula von der Leyen, the Commission is due to be sworn in during the plenary
sitting of October 21-24 in Luxembourg and to start its activity on November 1.

2030 AGENDA – The
Department for Sustainable Development with the Romanian Government is today
hosting the international conference titled The Implementation of the 2030 UN
targets in the Black Sea region. Romania is a regional hub in terms of
implementing the 2030 Agenda, the head of the Department for Sustainable
Development Laszlo Borbely said on this occasion. The event is aimed at
offering a platform for dialogue and exchange of best practices between
government agencies, universities, NGOs, as well as other entities, with a view
to implementing the sustainable development objectives in the Black Sea region.
The 2030 Agenda comprises 17 objectives to be implemented over the course of 15
years, which include eradicating extreme poverty, combating inequities and injustice
and protecting the planet.

FORUM – Romania
can be perceived by Vietnamese entrepreneurs as hub for trading inside the EU,
Lazar Comanescu, an international relations advisor to the President of the
Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said earlier today in Bucharest on
the sidelines of the Romania-Vietnam Business Forum. Comanescu recalled that
this year Vietnam and the EU signed a cooperation and investment agreement
under the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU. Vietnam is the EU’s
second-largest trade partner from the Association of South-East Asian Nations
after Singapore, with a total of 47.6 billion dollars in traded goods and 3.6
billion dollars in traded services. While EU investment stocks in Vietnam are
at a low, standing at 8.3 billion euros in 2016, a growing number of EU
businesses are relocating to this country. Vietnam’s top imports to the EU
include telecom equipment, apparel and foodstuffs. The EU exports to Vietnam
cars and transport equipment, chemical and agricultural products.

FOOTBALL – Romanian football champions
CFR Cluj on Thursday lost 2-nil to Celtic Glasgow of Scotland away from home in
the second fixture of Europa League Group E. In the other group fixture, Lazio
Rome defeated Rennes of France 2-1. Celtic now ranks first with 4 points,
followed by CFR with 3 points, Lazio with 3 points and Rennes with 1 point.

(translated by V. Palcu)