The Constitutional Court of Romania has invalidated the July 29th referendum on the impeachment of the president, after the latter was suspended by Parliament. The decision had been postponed for about three months, because of disputes regarding the number of voters that should be included in the permanent voter lists. After analyzing the documents requested from the government, six of the nine judges in the Constitutional Court ruled that the turnout threshold of 50% plus one of the voters had not been met.

Some 8.5 million people showed up in polls, accounting for roughly 46% of the total, with 87% of them voting in favour of dismissing the president. The Parliament of Romania will convene on Monday to take note of the Constitutional Court ruling, and after the decision is read in Parliament and published in the Official Journal, Traian Basescu will return to office to see through his second term, due to come to an end in 2014. The Court decision triggered street protests in Bucharest and other cities.

The government passes the 2012 budget rectification bill

The Government of Romania Thursday passed the 2012 budget rectification bill. As agreed on with the IMF, the bill stipulates the widening of the budget deficit from 1.9% to 2.25% of the GDP. According to PM Victor Ponta, starting this winter public sector salaries will be brought back to the level prior to the austerity cuts of 2012, the amounts illegally withheld from pensions will be repaid, and farming subsidies will be granted.

The current budget redistribution will also ensure the funds for employing several hundred magistrates, in view of the implementation of the new Civil Code in 2013, as well as the employment of graduates from administration, interior, defense and penitentiary academies. Funds were also earmarked for grants and scholarships through the Education Ministry, and for covering the arrears of local authorities. The Minister for public finances, Florin Georgescu, announced on the other hand that under a government decision, starting next year the VAT will be paid upon cashing invoices. The measure is intended to help small and medium-sized enterprises and will be applicable for companies with a turnover below 500,000 euros, on condition that refunds are done through the banking system.

Romania has a new justice minister as of Thursday

Mona Pivniceru is the new minister of justice in Romania. On Thursday, she was sworn in before interim president Crin Antonescu, after earlier that day the Superior Council of Magistrates acknowledged her resignation from the Council and from the magistrate corps. Pivniceru chose to resign after the magistrates turned down her application for the secondment to the government. PM Victor Ponta had been the interim justice minister since August 7th.

The French Government has eased Romanians’ and Bulgarians’ access to its labor market

The Romanian Foreign Ministry has hailed the French Government’s decision to ease the access of Romanian and Bulgarian citizens to its labor market as well as its initiative to integrate Roma ethnics. The Foreign Ministry has reiterated the Romanian authorities’ full support to draw up and implement, alongside the French partners, projects on the social integration of the Roma. French PM Jean-Marc Ayrault has announced a series of projects for the social integration of 15,000 to 20,000 Roma people living in France.

The autumn session of the baccalaureate has started

The second session of the baccalaureate has kicked off this week in Romania with the oral Romanian literature exam. Over 99 000 high school graduates are expected to have these tests by August 31st. Preliminary results will be made public on September 2nd, and the final ones on September 5th. The Education Ministry has announced that the video cameras in the examination rooms will be operational, just as they were during the summer session, when only 44% of the students passed the exams.

Drought and heat take their toll on Romania

In Romania, the lack of rain has disrupted traffic on the Danube. The water level dropped to below 2,500 cubic meters per second, to half of the multi-annual average of August and the forecast doesn’t bring anything new. The transport of goods went down 50% and the navigable channel is only open to small ships. Extreme temperatures and the lack of water and rain have seriously affected crops. Experts say sunflower, corn, potatoes and bean crops, as well as fodder and cattle runs have been plagued. Military firemen are ensuring water supplies to households in the rural areas. Southern and western Romania will be under a code orange alert valid through Sunday. A code yellow alert for high temperatures is in place for the rest of the country.

Romanian football teams play in European competitions

Three Romanian football teams played on Thursday in the playoff round of the Europa League. FC Vaslui and Dinamo were defeated on home turf and with the same score, 2-0, by Internazionale Milan from Italy and Metalist Harkov from Ukraine, respectively. Steaua Bucharest won the away match against the Lithuanian team Ekranas. On Tuesday, Romanian champions CFR Cluj defeated the Swiss side FC Basel, 2-1, in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs. The second leg is scheduled for next week.