October 6-12

A review of the headline-grabbing events in Romania this past week.

Roxana Vasile, 11.10.2013, 12:00

New tensions emerge between the Romanian President and Prime Minister

The cohabitation agreement between the Presidency and the Government of Romania has been discussed this week by the foreign minister Titus Corlatean, justice minister Robert Cazanciuc and two presidential advisers. The meeting came after President Traian Basescu said Prime Minister Victor Ponta breached a former agreement in areas such as foreign policy, the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.

The outcome of the talks was summarized by Minister Cazanciuc: “In my opinion, these talks were a model of institutional dialogue, in which each party expressed its own assessment of how this agreement has worked so far. It was essentially a meeting where we agreed that we must carry on with the agreement and that solutions must be identified in this respect.”

After the legislative elections held last December, and won by the Social-Liberal Union, president Traian Basescu and prime minister Victor Ponta, who are political opponents, signed a cohabitation pact. But the frozen conflict between the two threatened to break open again, with the president even warning that he might abandon the agreement with the prime minister. Victor Ponta argued, however, that the pact is necessary, if Romania is to avert a political crisis.

The European report on Romania gets deferred

A report under the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification, through which the European Commission assesses the reform of the Romanian judiciary, was initially due in December this year. Brussels decided, however, to postpone its release, most likely to January 2014. EU spokesman Mark Gray said early this week that the Commission received many notifications from various NGOs concerning the situation at the National Anti-Corruption Directorate sparked by the recent appointment of certain prosecutors.

He added, however, that the European Commission would not comment on individual cases. According to Mark Gray, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate has been mentioned in all the reports concerning the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification published so far as one of the most efficient, independent and objective institutions.

The Commission has clearly expressed its position on various appointments and procedures in Romania, Mark Gray added, but it will not make comments on specific appointments or individual prosecutors. As always, the Commission will look at the overall situation of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Mark Gray said.

The EU allots development funds to Romania

Also in a European context, PM Ponta presented in Parliament the partnership agreement between Romania and the European Union on the multi-annual financial mechanism for the next 7 years. In terms of the EU funds per capita earmarked for Romania for 2014-2020, Romania stands at a disadvantage compared to other countries, Ponta says.

He added that the money would primarily be used for narrowing the gaps between the country’s various regions and counties. The prime minister also mentioned that the EU absorption rate has tripled since the European Commission resumed payments under various operational programmes, previously suspended because of money management problems. In fact, on the very day when the multi-annual financial mechanism was presented in Bucharest, Brussels announced the unblocking of the operational programme aimed at improving competitiveness, which is a major area of interest in the 2014-2020 period, alongside infrastructure, resources, administration and governance.

Romania’s foreign minister makes a visit to London

Romanian and British authorities will work together to prevent possible infringements of the right to free movement of labour within the EU. This topic was discussed on Thursday in London by the Romanian foreign minister Titus Corlatean and his British counterpart William Hague. Ahead of the lifting of employment restrictions for Romanian workers in the UK, on January 1st, 2014, the two officials acknowledged the positive contribution of the Romanians working in the UK to the growth of the British economy. Some British publications reported that many Romanians consider moving to Britain to take advantage of the country’s welfare system.

Moreover, this summer a Home Office campaign urged illegal immigrants to return to their home countries. Posters displaying a picture of handcuffs read: “In the UK illegally? Go home or face arrest!” The campaign prompted Romania’s ambassador to London Ion Jinga to write in an article for huffingtonpost.co.uk that the life and reputation of the Romanians who work in the UK are damaged by misleading statistics and scaremongering from the politicians and the media.

A new forestry code is to be endorsed in Romania

A new forestry code has been passed by the Government and is to be subject to an emergency debate in Parliament. The urgency of the matter became clear after Romania lost close to 400,000 hectares of forest since 1989, with losses amounting to over 5 billion euros. Flawed management and excessive harvesting have nearly destroyed Romania’s forests. To curb the phenomenon, the new forestry code lays down tougher penalties for lumber theft, and incentives for the forest owners who will not cut down the trees.

The delegate minister for waters and forestry, Lucia Varga: “Forestry authorities are worried they will have to allot additional funds from their budgets, but they will get some of this money back from the sale of forestry certificates. This will provide them with sufficient funds to ensure the security of forests and purchase the necessary equipment. As far as private owners are concerned, they will receive incentives not to cut their forests amounting to up to 200 dollars per hectare.”

Wood will no longer be sold at the site, in the forest, but from designated sites and only after being measured and cut.