November 1

A look at the main events this past week

România Internațional, 02.11.2013, 13:02

A new budget revision in Romania

The Romanian government approved the 2nd and last budget revision in 2013, which was a negative one. The move was required by the smaller than predicted budget revenues and the increase in expenses. Although cuts will be made on the budgets of most ministries and public institutions, PM Victor Ponta has said the revision will not affect the payment of pensions, salaries and social services. The finance minister Daniel Chitoiu has explained that the revenue collection targets for the July –September period were not reached and has expressed hope that the Fiscal Administration will do better in the last quarter of the year, after its regional and territorial reorganization. An Antifraud Division will start operating as of November, to counteract tax evasion. The government has also announced that it may consider the increase in the basic rate tax band in order to cover the difference between revenues and expenses.

Protests of the education trade unions

Education trade unions were on a work-to-rule strike from Monday to Wednesday. They asked the government to allot at least 6% of the GDP for the education system as of 2014, to change the education law and adopt a new salary law under which the salaries of beginning teachers should increase by 50% and of the other teachers by 15%. On November 6th trade unionists scheduled a large-scale rally. On Wednesday the trade union confederation Cartel Alfa protested in front of the government head offices against the current labor legislation, the minimum national wage and the lack of substantial social dialogue between trade unions and public authorities. Cartel Alfa has announced protests up until the end of the year.

Works on the American base in Romania started in Deveselu

Works started on Monday at the military base in Deveselu, in southern Romania, which will host elements of the American anti-missile defense shield in Europe, as part of the NATO anti ballistic missile defense system. At the ceremony, which was attended by Romanian, American and NATO officials, President Traian Basescu underlined that Romania thus joined the NATO member states that will provide a state-of-the-art solution for the protection of European and American citizens against the threat of ballistic missiles. The missile interceptors to be located in Deveselu are part of a larger-scale system, which includes complementary installations in another two NATO countries, Poland and Turkey. The installation will cost around 400 million dollars, allotted almost entirely by the Pentagon. Romania agreed to host elements of the American anti-missile defense shield based on a bilateral agreement concluded in September 2011. As many as 200 American soldiers and technicians will be stationed at the base in Deveselu, which will become operational in 2015.

The Insolvency Code was declared unconstitutional by the Romanian Constitutional Court

The Romanian Constitutional Court decided Tuesday that the government-issued emergency ordinance on the Insolvency Code was unconstitutional. Judges found that constitutional provisions have been infringed in the sense that there is no justification for the emergency of adopting this ordinance and that the government cannot pass legislation that affects the functioning of fundamental public institutions. The opposition believes that the new Code is an unprecedented attack against the freedom of the press and the business environment. However the government claims that the law is meant to efficiently fight tax evasion.

The annual EU Danube Strategy Forum was held in Bucharest

The Danube Strategy must be included in the operational programmes, so that it may receive European funding, the Romanian foreign minister Titus Corlăţean said in Bucharest, at the end of the second annual forum of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region. The European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn, explained that the strategy includes 400 projects, worth around 49 billion euros, which will generate economic growth and will create new jobs. Attending the forum were officials for 14 states, 9 EU member countries and 5 non-members. The Danube Strategy was co-authored by Romania and Austria and was launched in April 2011.

Romanian prosecutors have dismantled the so-called “meat network”

In Romania, a prosecutor with the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Supreme Court was placed under preventive arrest for 29 days, in a tax evasion case that reportedly caused damages of over 50 million euros. As many as 16 people were arrested in what the media dubbed “the meat network” scandal. According to the investigators, the suspects were coordinating a group of Romanian and Arab businessmen who had put together a large-scale mechanism to dodge taxes on their meat sales. As part of the case, a Social Democratic Senator is under criminal investigation for misuse of authority.

Radio Romania celebrates its 85th anniversary

On November 1st, Radio Romania celebrated 85 years of existence. On this occasion, the public radio broadcaster organised an Open Doors Day, and the Radio Concert Hall hosted special events the entire week. November 1st was also the 85th anniversary of the Radio Romania Orchestras and Choirs, because the National Radio Orchestra was established the same year as the public radio, in 1928, at the initiative and under the leadership of musician Mihail Jora. The public radio is one of the few companies in the country with decades of uninterrupted activity. The Romanian public radio launched its international programmes in the 1930s.