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| THE WEEK IN REVIEW 19/07/2008 |
| (2008-07-18) |
| Last updated: 2008-07-21 17:56 EET |
The European Commission’s monitoring report on the justice system, to be released next Wednesday, will be critical of Romania, as Brussels considers that, over the past months, Bucharest has failed to make much progress. The report will be even critical of Bulgaria, which, in the community officials’ opinion, has taken several steps back. Our correspondent in Brussels, Luminita Apostol, has a copy of the report and will next give us more details:
“Romania seems to be in the same state described in the interim report issued in February, when it was criticized for the lack of results in fighting high level corruption; the report was also critical of parliament’s activity, although progress was acknowledged in the activity of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and of the Public Ministry.
As regards the management of European funds, the report will show that Bucharest is ahead of Sofia, Bulgarians running the risk of losing several hundreds of millions of Euro due to the bad management of money, and the lack of political will in combating fraud, corruption and organized crime. Diplomatic sources in Brussels say both countries will continue to be monitored by the European Commission for an indefinite period of time, until they meet the commitments they assumed to fight corruption and reform the judiciary.
Romania’s government on Wednesday passed a second budget amendment this year, which takes into account an additional one billion Euro in income, and higher expenses: 1.2 billion euro. The executive hopes that the budget deficit will be kept at 2.3% of the GDP, that is below the 3% threshold accepted by the EU. The largest amount will go to the Transport Ministry for restoring national roads, building highways, and upgrading subway and railway networks. Additional funds will also go to the Ministry of Defense to support army modernization programs, to the Health Ministry for the national program for the prevention of cervical cancer, to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and to the Romanian Intelligence Service. In another development, the government has earmarked no funds whatsoever for salary increases, but suggested to trade unions a rise in the minimum wage nationwide from 500 to 540 lei in autumn. And, given the surplus reported in the budget for pensions in the first quarter of the year, pensions are likely to be increased in advance.
Romanian President, Traian Basescu, on Wednesday met with his Turkmen counterpart, Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov, who was on a 2-day official visit to Bucharest. Basescu underscored the importance of the visit, referring to Romania’s and EU’s policy of extending relations towards the east and beyond the Caspian Sea. The President of Turkmenistan said his country, one of the largest natural gas producers in Central Asia, was interested in state-of-the-art technological equipment made in Romania. The two presidents signed a number of agreements on agriculture, constructions, transportation, education, and the environment.
Direct foreign investment in Romania totaled, in the first 5 months of the year, 4.1 billion Euro, higher by 90% as compared to the same period of last year, as shown by data provided by the National Bank of Romania. In 2007, the value of such investment amounted to 7.06 billion euro. The National Bank also announced that the current account deficit in the first 5 months of 2008 stood at 6.5 billion euro, on the rise by 11% against the same period of 2007. The medium and long term foreign debt reached, in late May, 43 billion euro, which points to a 12% increase as compared to December 2007.
The authorities in Rome postponed for next week the fingerprinting of the Roma living in nomad camps in Italy, many of whom come from Romania. The decision to collect the fingerprint the Roma and their children was criticised by the left-wing opposition and the Catholic Church in Italy, the Romanian government and the European Union, which described it as discriminatory and contrary to community law. To put an end to the European Union’s criticism, the government in Rome plans to fingerprint all Italian citizens by 2010. On Thursday, when the fingerprinting was scheduled to start, the Romanian interior minister Cristian David was in Rome. He said the camps of nomad Roma in Italy are a social problem, and not a matter of criminality, insisting that the Roma should be integrated by allowing them access to education and jobs. Bucharest said it would launch a cultural campaign in Italy’s biggest cities to improve the country’s image.
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