January 22, 2014 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news.
România Internațional, 22.01.2014, 19:20
JUSTICE– Romanian Justice Minister, Robert Cazanciuc said on Wednesday that the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism report presented by the European Commission was better than the one last year. He made it clear that the report appreciated the commitment of the Romanian government to revising the Constitution and made several recommendations such as the dismantling of small courts and prosecutor’s offices and the development of the national anti-corruption strategy. Presenting the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism report in Brussels, the spokesman for the European Commission Mark Gray said that there was still concern over the independence of the judiciary in Romania. He went on to say that the amendments to the Criminal Code passed by the Chamber of Deputies, providing the MPs with a sort of super-immunity, had stirred “a major concern” over Romania’s ability of fighting corruption; reference is also made to the fact that the Constitutional Court of Romania has declared those amendments as unconstitutional. The National Agency of Integrity and the National Anti-corruption Directorate are judicial institutions that are appreciated in the report, whereas Parliament is criticized and the Constitutional Court of View is regarded as “an important arbiter”.
RESIGNATIONS– Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Wednesday decided to dismiss state secretary with the Interior Ministry, Catalin Chiper in the wake of Monday’s plane crash in Western Romania, which killed two persons. The Prime Minister used such words as “failure” and pointed to the unacceptable deficiencies during the rescue operations. He said the operations unfolded at an unacceptably slow pace in the case of three institutions: the Interior Ministry, the Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration (ROMATSA) and the Service of Special Telecommunications (STS). The Director General of ROMATSA, Aleodor Francu as well as the Operations Director of the aforementioned company, Bogdan Donciu, as well as the head of the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, colonel Ion Burlui, tendered their resignations. A small plane with medical staff on board made a forced landing in a rough mountainous area. The five survivors were found by locals after a search of several hours in which fire fighters, gendarmes, police officers and mountain rescue teams also participated. The media quote experts as saying the victims might have been saved if they had been found sooner.
ECONOMY-In Bucharest, the joint delegation of the IMF, the World Bank and the European Commission has started talks with the Romanian authorities. The troika has meetings at the National Bank, the Finance Ministry, the National Forecast Commission and the Labour Ministry. For two weeks, international experts will discuss the priorities of the economic reforms and the legal framework having an impact on the economy. The mission is assessing the stand-by agreement concluded last year. Romania signed an agreement with the IMF and the European Union worth 4 billion euros, whose funds it does not intend to use. The agreement is aimed at protecting Romania from possible shocks on the financial markets and assisting it in curtailing the funding costs.
BUSINESS-Romania ranks 8th in Eastern Europe and Central Asia in a Bloomberg chart of the most attractive countries in terms of business. Though it got the best rating in the region as regards integration into the global economy, Romania is disadvantaged by other factors taken into consideration in the Bloomberg survey such as the perception of corruption, taxation or the protection of property rights. The most attractive country in terms of business in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is Poland, followed by the Czech Republic, Hungary, Cyprus, Turkey, Bulgaria and Russia. Romania is followed by Croatia and Lithuania.
THE PROPERTY FUND– The Property Fund has attracted over 1.2 billion Euro worth of direct portfolio investment from foreign institutions investors over the past 3 years since it started being traded on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The Property Fund, was set up in 2005, to compensate the Romanian citizens whose properties were confiscated by the communist regime. The president of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, Lucian Anghel, said 2013 was the best the of past 6 years for the Romanian capital market and the second in the history of the Stock exchange in terms of the trading volume. In another move, the US Charge d’Affaires in Romania, Duane Butcher, has underlined the Romanian capital market is one of the most expensive in Central and Eastern Europe, because of very high commissions.
UKRAINE-The European Union has expressed shock at the latest wave of violence in Ukraine and called for its immediate cessation. The EU has warned Kiev the actions will bear consequences on the relations with that country. Wednesday was the fourth day of heavy clashes between pro-European protesters and the riot police. Protests started in Ukraine last November after the Viktor Ianukovici Administration had refused to sign the association agreement with the European Union and preferred coming close to Russia. The USA and the EU have condemned the violence in Ukraine.
SYRIA- The Geneva 2 peace conference kicked off in Montreux, Switzerland, on Wednesday. The US secretary of state John Kerry who is attending the conference says Syrian president Bashar al Assad could no longer be part of the Syrian transitional government, since he had lost his legitimacy to lead after “an appalling assault” on his people. UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon has urged the delegates of the Bashar administration and those of the Syrian opposition to take the opportunity given by the conference. Organized by the UN and sponsored by the USA and Russia, the Geneva 2 peace conference for the first time rallies representatives of the regime in Damascus and of the opposition in exile. The conference attended by delegates of some 40 states and organizations is aimed at finding a solution to end the conflict in Syria that started in March 2011 and has left over 130,000 dead and millions of refugees.
SHALE GAS-The European Commission on Wednesday adopted a recommendation allowing for the exploitation of shale gas in Europe, on condition that minimal “common principles” are observed, especially sanitary and environmental protection norms, FP reports. In spite of the recommendations made by green watchdogs and the European Parliament, the European Commission refused to impose constraining legal norms regarding shale gas exploration and exploitation. The commission recommends to the EU member states to make assessments of the impact on the environment in maximum transparency conditions. The member states are invited to implement the principles formulated within 6 months, as of December 2014 and to annual inform the EC on the measures enforced.
DAVOS-The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum opened its doors in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday. Attending are more than 2500 buisness people, economists and politicians from over 100 countries, who will discuss the main issues confronting the world economy. The meeting will also focus on the conflict in Syria and the climate change. As a first, no less than 25 conferences will this year focus on health and the reduction of stress in the business environment.
