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| THE WEEK IN REVIEW 26/04/-02/05/2010 |
| (2010-04-30) |
| Last updated: 2010-05-03 13:24 EET |
On Monday, during consultations with parliamentary parties, Romanian president Traian Basescu called on the latter to pass urgently the revised law on the functioning of the National Integrity Agency, which is in charge of verifying the wealth of Romanian officials. Romania made a commitment when it joined the EU to make sure that the Agency functions properly and effectively. The government was forced to make hasty amendments to the old law when the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional some of its provisions. The law barely passed the Chamber of Deputies, after a second voting session was called due to irregularities. Among the new provisions, what stands out is the fact that now officials and people in public positions have to submit two wealth statements – one public and one confidential.
Also, in case the Integrity Agency find tax fraud, inconsistencies between declarations, or irregularities in the way wealth was obtained, they have to refer the case to either the tax authorities or to the General Prosecutor’s Office. Before, the Agency could refer the case to the Prosecutor’s Office and file in court a motion to freeze illicit assets, and even to seize them. The Constitutional Court ruled that the prerogatives granted by the old version of the law created confusion, and granted improperly overlapping jurisdiction to the Agency and the prosecutors. The new law now goes to the Senate, which has legislative precedence over the lower chamber.
A joint mission of the IMF, EU, and World Bank is in Bucharest until May 7th to assess Romania’s compliance with the conditions of the loan agreement signed in 2009. Analysts believe that this round of negotiations will be the toughest so far, because figures on budget income in the first months of the year are below projections, and economic recovery is yet to show itself. National Bank governor Mugur Isarescu said that the application of the provisions of the agreement is the best solution for Romania in solving its budget problems, because right now revenues are well below expenditure. Here is the governor himself:
“We should save money in social spending and in current state spending, and the money we save should be put into capital spending, creating jobs, which ultimately will improve the income and social spending situation. You cannot have social spending when the economy is weak”.
The head of IMF mission, Jeffrey Franks, said that for Romania to emerge from the crisis it should have a flexible job market, and a more productive one. Depending on the assessment results, in June the board of the IMF will decide if Romania will get its next installment of the loan, worth 850 million Euro, which is to go exclusively to the National Bank to refinance the budget deficit.
The state of Romanian hospitals is once again under public scrutiny after two patients, one of them first soloist of the Operetta Theater in Bucharest, were transferred to the University Hospital in very serious condition. Early this week, the two slipped into a deep coma after getting a very serious infection from minor surgery in another Bucharest hospital. The investigation in that hospital revealed that the unit was not in compliance with hygiene regulations and with septic security measures. The authorities announced that, starting next month, inspections at the national level will be conducted in all hospitals, as well as reviews of the procedures for the acquisition of medication and medical products.
Civil servants in Romania on Thursday picketed the main government building in Bucharest, and on May 5th they will be going on an all-out strike for an indefinite period of time. They claim that the government did not keep the promises made in February in order to put a stop to union protests. The civil servants are protesting against salary cuts of up to 45%, brought about by the application of the new state salary law, and by possible lay-offs in the future.
Mihai Ghimpu, the interim president of the Republic of Moldova, on Tuesday and Wednesday was on his first official visit to Romania since taking office. The visit, coming against the background of renewed good relations between the two states, which came after the former regime, of communist orientation, lost power in Chisinau. Mihai Ghimpu thanked Bucharest for its constant support of Moldova’s aspirations to join the EU, as well as for the 100 million Euro non-reimbursable aid package granted to it by Romania. After addressing the Parliament in Bucharest, he met with some of the most important figures in Romanian politics, and, alongside president Traian Basescu, signed a joint declaration that creates a strategic partnership for the purpose of Moldova’s European integration. The leader from Chisinau made a speech explaining what his country hoped to achieve:
“Both political support from Romania as an EU member, and its support in applying domestically the technical conditions required by the European Commission. Applying the community acquis translated into Romanian will make it easier for us to reach the objective we committed to, because we speak the same language, have the same identity, and no one can take away from us that which God granted”.
In his turn, president Basescu underlined the fact that the relationship between the two countries, who have a plethora of common values, is special.
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