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| The Week in Review 6-12/02/2011 |
| (2011-02-11) |
| Last updated: 2011-02-17 16:17 EET |
An ample anti-corruption campaign continues with arrests at Romania’s borders with non-EU countries, such as the Ukraine and Serbia. Dozens of customs agents and border policemen were arrested under suspicion of getting bribed to facilitate cigarette smuggling. The corruption scandal went straight to the highest rungs of the ladder. The head of the National Customs Authority, Radu Traian Marginean, was fired under suspicion of bribery as well.
The Romanian parliament once again had its image soiled after the Chamber of Deputies rejected a request by the National Anticorruption Directorate to be allowed to arrest a Democrat Liberal, representing the party currently in power, who was accused of extortion and abuse of office. The response elicited a wave of criticism against the government from both the governing party and the parties in opposition. The head of state, Traian Basescu, said that the result of this voting session harms Romania, which is still under European Commission monitoring regarding the reform of the judiciary. The minister of justice, Catalin Predoiu, believes that in this situation the only honorable way out is for the deputy under suspicion to resign and hand himself over to the authorities.
Romania’s and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen area, which was scheduled for March, is still possible only in theory, even though Romania is technically in compliance with all requirements. This was stated by Traian Basescu in an interview on public television. More and more countries oppose this move. Finland and Holland have officially joined France and Germany in calling for a delay in accession. These countries believe that Bucharest and Sofia are unable to control illegal immigration to the rest of Europe, and have not made sufficient progress in fighting corruption and organized crime. European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malstrom, explained in Bucharest that joining the Schengen area cannot occur simply through a technical evaluation, being a matter of trust, which right now is scarce. The accession situation will be analyzed in the EU Council for Justice and Home Affairs scheduled for February 24.
IMF head of mission to Romania, Jeffrey Franks, has said that he is relying on the economy growing this year, even though he does not rule out the possibility of the country being in a recession for a third year in a row. Romania signs an additional loan agreement with the IFM, the European Commission and the World Bank, this time a precautionary one worth five billion Euro, and available only in case of emergency. In exchange, the government promised to restart the economy by paying back arrears, restructuring inefficient state companies, especially in energy and transportation, and by increasing public investments.
Franks believes that equally important is increasing the rate of absorption for European funds: “In Brussels 19 billion Euros provided free of charge are waiting to be used in Romania for investment. Using 1, 4 or 5 billion Euro a year would be a huge incentive for the economy”.
Another mining accident in a mine in southwestern Romania, an explosion that killed five workers, highlights again the issues in this sector, which has been under reform for the last two decades. Recently, the minister of the economy, Ion Ariton, said that, of the seven mines owned by the National Coal Company of the Jiu Valley, Romania’s principal coal basin, four will be restructured, and three will be shut down. At the same time, he said that the authorities have no wish for the mining industry to disappear, and want to support it and create jobs for people in this disadvantaged area. On the other hand, trade unions in mining called for an investment program with European funds to be used to improve the infrastructure in terms of transportation and environmental protection, especially at slag pits.
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