November 27, 2019 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 27.11.2019, 20:00
EU BUDGET – The European Parliament adopted the 2020 EU budget on Wednesday. Next years budget will continue to support growth and the competitiveness of the European economy, as well as other EU priorities, such as security and the management of migration. 21% of the budget will go towards measures aimed at addressing climate change. This has been achieved through increases for climate-related actions in several areas such as research and development, transport and energy infrastructure, and the EUs external action.Total commitments are set at 168.7 billion euros. This is an increase of 1.5% compared to the 2019 budget as amended. 1.5 billion euros have been kept available under the expenditure ceilings of the multiannual financial framework for 2014-2020, allowing the EU to react to unforeseeable needs. Total payments amount to 153.6 billion euros, rising 3.4% from 2019. This increase reflects the continuing implementation of the 2014-2020 programmes at full speed.
RESIGNATION – The former prime-minister of Romania, Viorica Dancila, stepped down on Tuesday night as president of the Social Democratic Party. She has stated she had to resign at the end of a tense meeting of the partys national executive committee, organized after Dancila lost the presidential runoff on Sunday to the current president of the country, Klaus Iohannis. The interim leadership of the Social Democratic Party is now held by the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu. A party congress is likely to be held early next year.
DEFENSE – Romanias Supreme Defense Council, chaired by president Klaus Iohannis, on Wednesday endorsed the appointment of Leutenant General Daniel Petrescu as the new Chief of Staff of the Romanian Armed Forces. The office of Chief of Staff remained vacant after General Nicolae Ciuca was appointed Minister of Defense in the new Government. Also discussed at the meeting were Romanias objectives for NATOs summit to be hosted by London in December. The head of state announced that the number of troops to take part in operations outside the country’s borders in 2020, that is 21 hundred military and civilians. That was the first meeting of the Council attended by members of the new Cabinet, headed by the Liberal Ludovic Orban.
COLECTIV – Final arguments are being held at the Bucharest Tribunal in the Colectiv case, by the lawyers of the club owners and of the owner of the company that provided the fireworks, as well as of the firefighters and technicians that have been tried in this case. On Monday, the families of the young people who died in the fire four years ago asked for material and moral damages of dozens of millions of Euros from the former mayor of Bucharests 4th district Cristian Popescu Piedone. Also, prosecutors with the Anticorruption Directorate asked for a 15-year prison sentence for the former mayor. Piedone and another three town-hall clerks have been tried for illegally releasing permits for the club that burned down in 2015, killing 64 people and wounding another 200. The trial started in 2016, but it was constantly postponed for two years, until a new fjudge was appointed, who sped up the hearings.
VISIT – Romanian president Klaus Iohannis met on Wednesday in Bucharest with the future president of the European Council, Charles Michel. The two officials discussed the EUs Strategic Agenda for 2019-2024, the 2021-2027 EU budget negotiations, Brexit, migration, foreign relations and fighting climate change. The visit of the former Belgian prime-minister is part of a tour in preparation for taking over the leadership of the European Council, on December 1st. He wants to learn more about the European leaders stand with regard to the main subjects on the EU agenda.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION – Gathered in plenary session in Strasbourg, the European Parliament voted on Wednesday the membership of the new European Commission, headed by the German Ursula von der Leyen, who presented her team and programme. The Romanian Adina Valean will be the new Transport Commissioner. The purpose of Wednesday’s meeting was to guarantee that the Commission had the necessary democratic legitimacy to act for the benefit of the European citizens. Since late September until mid this month, the parliamentary committees held hearings with each of the candidates, in order to assess their capacity. Last week, the leaders of the political groups and the EP president David Sassoli agreed that the examination process had been finalized and that parliament was ready to vote. The new EC should have taken office on November 1st, but three proposals for commissioner were rejected, namely those made by Romania, Hungary and France. The Commission will start working on December 1st.
MIGRANTS – 48 people from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and India were found by border police while attempting to illegally cross the Romanian border via Nadlac, in western Romania, hidden in a truck. According to the border police, six of them are minor, three women and 39 men, all asylum seekers in Romania. The police are now carrying out investigations to establish whether its a matter of migrant smuggling.
IPIFF – The 14th edition of the Independent Producers Indie Film Festival — IPIFF 2019, the only festival in Romania supporting independent filmmakers, is under way in Bucharest. The Festival is organised by the Romanian Union of Film and Audiovisual Producers – Romanian Association for Collective Management of Audiovizual Works. For five days, film lovers have the opportunity to watch at the Union Cinema in Bucharest, the latest Romanian independent features and short films. The current edition of the festival also includes a screenwriting competition for short and feature film. Workshops for scriptwriters will also be held, aimed at helping them turn their scripts into films. One of these workshops, dubbed “The art of project presentation, of finding the right co-producer and of negotiating the best co-production deal”, will be held on November 28 by Renate Roginas. (translated by E. Enache)
