March 28, 2024
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 28.03.2024, 13:55
FRANCOPHONIE – Romania is hosting an economic mission of the International Organization of La Francophonie, as well as a dedicated economic forum on its sidelines, a high-profile platform addressing businesses from French-speaking countries. Attending will be entrepreneurs and government officials from 88 member states. In an opening statement delivered on Wednesday, Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mathias Cormann, highlighted opportunities to further develop trade and investment between Central Europe, including Romania, and other French-speaking countries. On the sidelines of the event, Romanian companies can talk to potential business partners from Africa, Asia, North America, the Caribbean or Europe. Agri-food, IT, green energy and medical industry are but some of the sectors featured in the economic forum.
GOVERNMENT – A draft emergency decree in the field of taxation is today discussed by the government. According to the document, meal allowances are expected to be maintained at the current value, applicable to all employees whose monthly income is below 1,600 EUR. Economic operators who reported accounting losses will be allowed to provide pay rises subject to certain conditions. State-owned enterprises that registered profits will deliver at least 50% of their dividends to the state budget. The government is also examining another two draft laws whereby it plans to deliver emergency aid worth 340 thousand EUR to underprivileged families and individuals and to create a subsidy scheme for regional development by boosting investment.
PRESIDENCY – The president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, has ratified the law banning the selling of e-cigarettes to minors. The law seeks to reduce the exposure of children and teenagers to tabaco products and stipulates fines up to 20,000 EUR, depending on the severity of the offense. The head of state also ratified the law on developing social services to prevent disenfranchised children from getting separated from their families. Under the new law, local authorities must organize daycare centers in local communities, with half of the expenses getting covered by the state.
SCHENGEN – On March 31, Romania will join the Schengen area with its air and maritime borders. Starting this day, Romanians travelling to EU space and Schengen member states will no longer go through customs and passport control, but will go straight to boarding gates. Romania’s partial accession to Schengen will be marked on Friday through the inauguration of a new international departures terminal at the “Traian Vuia” Airport in Timișoara. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis are expected to attend the opening event.
PRESS FREEDOM – The European Council and the European Parliament have green-lit the final draft of the Media Freedom Act, which compels members states to guarantee editorial independence of public service media by ensuring sustainable and predictable funding. The law protects online content and ensures enhanced transparency of media ownership. Authorities will be prohibited from pressing journalists and editors to disclose their sources, an underlying principle of investigative journalism in addition to access to information. The Media Freedom Act will also introduce an independent committee for media services comprising media authorities from member states, which will advise the European Commission regarding member states’ degree of compliance with the law.
EPPO – The European Prosecutor’s Office is carrying out an investigation into the fraudulent purchase of tugboats for Lower Danube Delta, which caused a prejudice of approximately 7 mln EUR to the EU budget. The investigation targets workers with the Administration of the Galați Lower Danube River Administration and the Romanian Naval Authority. In 2019, the two institutions secured funding to purchase two multi-purpose tugboats, but delivered inaccurate documentation, prosecutors say. Although the boats were solely intended for river navigation, the suspects drew up the tendering specifications on the basis of the more restrictive technical characteristics and construction requirements specific to seagoing vessels. As a result, the type of vessels falling within the criteria of the tender specifications was very limited, which prevented other economic operators from participating in the tendering process, and ultimately favored only one applicant. Following the finalization of the contract with the supplier company, the two tugboats were delivered in July 2021, exclusively suited for maritime Danube, where the depth of the water permits navigation with a higher draught – therefore rendering the two boats unusable for river navigation. (VP)
