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| The Week in Review |
| (2012-03-17) |
| Last updated: 2012-03-21 18:30 EET |
The European Commission will insist that a decision on Romania’s accession to the Schengen area be made by the end of September.
The President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, has reiterated his support for Romania’s Schengen accession during the talks he had in Brussels with Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu. Barroso has expressed hope that a decision to be made in September will be a positive one. He insisted that no association should be made between Bucharest’s accession to the free movement area and the reports on the judiciary. Barroso hailed the intention of the Romanian cabinet to implement more judiciously the conditions stipulated in the program agreed upon with the EU and the IMF and to observe all its fiscal targets. In turn, Ungureanu said the country’s sustainable economic recovery is a priority for Romania, which will carry on the reforms it has pledged to make. As regards the absorption of community funds, Mihai Razvan Ungureanu said:
“We have made the commitment to take responsible action in the ensuing period of time, in order to improve significantly the absorption rate of community funds. This money costs us nothing when we have it, but it’s priceless when we lose it. Practically, Romania’s economic growth on short and medium term depends on these funds.”
During his talks with the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, Mihai Razvan Ungureanu called on the European Council to start a high-level technical debate on the way in which the EU policies may be compromised by xenophobic and anti-European attitudes.
The salaries of state-sector employees are restored, to the level registered two years ago.
The ruling coalition in Romania has decided that state sector employees receive back, as of June, the rest of a pay cut operated in 2010. The coalition is in favour of restoring public sector salaries to the level prior to a 25% pay cut depending on economic developments. The President of the Chamber of Deputies, Roberta Anastase: (quote) ”We are talking about a restoration, not an increase of salaries”. (end of quote)
The opposition wants to restore salaries to the level of 2010, but they say the measure should be accompanied by additional economic measures. The President of the Conservative Party, in opposition, Daniel Constantin says merely restoring salaries to the level of 2010 will not give state sector employees the same purchasing power they had back then. Daniel Constantin:
”We don’t agree with the term ‘restoration’ used by the Liberal Democratic Party and the ruling coalition. It is an improperly used term. We can speak of restoration only if the level of salaries keeps up with the inflation rate.”
The annual inflation rate reached a new historical low in February.
According to the National Institute for Statistics, the annual inflation rate dropped in February in Romania to some 2.6%, to reach a new record low, despite an increase in the price of foodstuffs, non-food products and services. The prices of eggs, vegetables and fruit saw the highest increase. The only food products whose price decreased in February, as compared to the previous month was honey, whereas in the case of non-food products only refrigerators and freezers cost less. The National Bank of Romania has set an inflation target of 3% for this year.
Major flaws in the handling of damages files.
The Romanian Government has halted for 6 months the granting of damages for the properties nationalized by the former communist regime. During this period of time a new law will be adopted to regulate the process. The decision was made after several flaws were discovered, in particular the fact that most of the closed files did not include the heir certificates based on which the right to damages was granted. Prime Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu has notified the Prosecutor’s Office about this. In October 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Romania had to solve the issue within 18 months.
Local elections in Romania are due on June 10th.
On June 10th, Romanian voters will elect their mayors, county council presidents and local, town and county councillors. According to a timetable set by the government, candidates may register for the elections until May 1st. The election campaign is due to start on May 11th and end on June 9th. The Romanian government will allocate some 23 million Euros for these elections, one third more than for the 2008 elections. In case of a no-call a second ballot will be held within two weeks of the first round, namely June 24th, as stipulated by the law.
The Targu Mures Medicine and Pharmacy University will have classes in Hungarian and English.
A draft decision under which at the Medicine and Pharmacy University in Targu Mures will be a department teaching in Hungarian and English is up for public debate for 10 days, after which a final decision will be made. This week the Romanian Government discussed the draft on first reading. According to PM Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, the new faculty will have to observe the education law and the principles of university autonomy and multiculturalism. The representatives of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, which is part of the governing coalition and initiated the project, said they are happy with the solution found by the Government. The opposition, however, says that setting up such a department would run counter to the principles of university autonomy and called on the Education Minister Catalin Baba to resign.
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