October 6, 2018 UPDATE

REFERENDUM – Nearly 19 million Romanian voters are invited this weekend to vote on a proposed redefinition of the concept of family in the Constitution. The initiators aim to define “family as an institution based on the marriage of a man and a woman, rather than the marriage of spouses, as it is at present. According to data released by the Central Electoral Bureau 5.72% of the total number of eligible voters cast their ballots on Saturday, many of them in urban communities. Polls will reopen in the country on Sunday morning. By 21:00 local time, when polls closed in Romania, some 46,000 Romanians had also voted abroad. The Romanians living abroad can vote in 378 polls hosted by diplomatic missions, consular offices, cultural institutes and other locations. The largest number of polls abroad are in Italy, Spain, the Republic of Moldova, the USA, UK, France and Germany. The voting process abroad will conclude on the US West Coast and in Canada on Monday morning, according to Romanian time. The vote in the diaspora started on Friday night in Auckland, New Zealand. On the whole, the vote abroad will take 58 hours. Parliament has passed a bill rephrasing the Constitutional definition of marriage, based on a citizen initiative signed by 3 million people. The referendum will be validated provided that a 30% turnout rate is met and 25% of the eligible voters cast valid votes.

Newsroom, 06.10.2018, 22:07

LAW – The Speaker of the Senate of Romania Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu said on Saturday that he wants a consensus of all parliamentary parties with respect to the Offshore Bill. In the next 2 weeks, when the bill is to be once again discussed, we will have enough time to find the best solutions, Tariceanu also said. The so-called Offshore Bill, which sets out the rules for natural gas extraction in the Black Sea, was discussed on Wednesday in the Chamber of Deputies, which decided to send the text back to the specialised committees. The bill was originally passed in the previous parliamentary session, but President Klaus Iohannis returned it to Parliament for a review.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT – The European Parliament has approved a report proposing new rules for freezing and confiscating the proceeds of crimes. The new regulation will allow for quicker and more efficient implementation of confiscation and asset freeze orders, as well as tighter deadlines for authorities and standard certificates for all EU member states. Experts estimate that offenders keep 98% of the proceeds of criminal activities. The EP report estimates that criminal activities generate around 110 billion euros per year. A 2016 EUROPOL report shows that only 2.2% of the money generated by criminal activities has been frozen or confiscated. At present, regulations on cross-border asset confiscation within the EU contain major loopholes that criminals and terrorists take advantage of.

SOPRANO – World-famous Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé died on Saturday at the age of 85, in a hospital in Barcelona where she had been admitted a month ago, the BBC reports. With a career spanning 50 years, Montserrat Caballé performed on some of the worlds greatest stages, alongside such personalities as Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo. Together with Freddie Mercury she sang the hit Barcelona, which was the anthem of the 1992 Olympics hosted by the Spanish city.

FINANCIAL – The Romanian Ministry for Finances has recently drawn 1.75 billion euros, through a Eurobond issue in international financial markets. The largest part of the bonds, amounting to 1.15 billion euros, has a 10-year maturity, and the remaining have 20-year maturity. According to Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici, the issue clearly reflects the positive international perception of the Romanian economys medium and long-term prospects. The strong demand and the quality of the investors confirm Romanias strengths, namely the sound macroeconomic foundation, coherent fiscal discipline and economic-financial stability. Teodorovici added that the Eurobond issue is designed to strengthen the State Treasurys foreign currency reserve and to minimise long term borrowing costs.

HANDBALL – The Romanian side AHC Dobrogea Sud Constanţa Saturday defeated at home the Czech side Talent Robstav MAT Plzen, 28-21, in the first leg of the second preliminary round of the EHF Cup in mens handball. The second leg will be played in Constanta as well, on Sunday. On Friday, Romanias womens handball champions, CSM Bucharest, defeated at home, 36-31, the Hungarian team FTC Rail Cargo, in Group D of the new Champions League season. It is for the 4th consecutive time that CSM takes part in the leading continental competition. The first time, in 2016, the Romanian handballers won the Champions League trophy, and in the following editions they came out 3rd in the Final Four

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)