The Romanian Parliament has validated the cabinet of prime minister designate, Social-Democrat leader Victor Ponta, who has been nominated for this position by the Social Liberal Union, the centre-leftist alliance who got absolute majority in parliament after the December 9th elections. The cabinet formed by the prime minister designate got 420 yeas and 120 nay votes in parliament. The cabinet of Victor Ponta, who has been prime minister for the past 8 months, is made up of 27 ministers, some of whom do not have a portfolio, and 3 vice-premiers. The priorities of the governing program for the next 4 years include fiscal consolidation, the re-launch of the economy, the creation of jobs and the amendment of the Constitution. In the fiscal domain the new executive intends to reduce the VAT from 24% to the previous level of 19% and to gradually increase the minimum salary up to 270 euros in the next 3 years. At the same time, they will maintain the 16% taxation level and will gradually introduce the differentiated tax on salaries. At macro-economic level, the new cabinet hopes Romania will register an average annual growth rate of 3%.

The New Romanian Parliament has started work.

The Romanian Parliament convened on Wednesday for the first time, after the December the 9th elections. The Romanian Parliament now has almost 600 MPs, the largest MP number after the fall of Communism in 1989. The centre-left ruling alliance, the Social Liberal Union, got 395 MP seats, the opposition Right Romania Alliance got 80, the populist Dan Diaconescu Party of the People, which entered Parliament for the first time, obtained 68 seats while the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania got 27 seats. The Romanian Parliament also includes 18 representatives of the national minorities, other than the Hungarian one. The leader of the National Liberal Party, Crin Antonescu, has been re-elected speaker of the Senate, while Social Democrat Valeriu Zgonea has been reconfirmed at the helm of the Chamber of Deputies.

Heavy snowfall paralyses Romania

Romania is in the grips of winter. Snowfalls have been reported all over Romania, the most affected areas being the east and south east of the country. Due to heavy snowfalls, several thousands of people have remained stranded, many towns and villages have been left without electricity and in some counties schools have been closed down. Many national and local roads have been blocked. Railway travel has also been disrupted, with many trains being cancelled or delayed. Due to strong wind, the Romanian ports on the Black Sea have been closed temporarily, while traffic along the Danube-Black Sea and the Sulina canals has been suspended.

The government creates a single financial supervisory body

The government in Bucharest has set up, through an emergency ordinance, the Financial Supervisory Authority in charge of monitoring the capital market, the insurance sector and the private retirement fund system. As of March 2013, the new body will take over the responsibilities of the National Securities Committee, the Insurance Supervisory Committee and the Supervisory Committee for the Private Pensions System, which have been running as independent bodies for the last 20 years. According to the National Bank governor Mugur Isarescu, the creation of this new body brings Romania closer to coordinated supervision, a necessary step in Europe in the coming period. A similar supervisory body exists in 15 other European Union states, including Germany, Britain, Austria and the Nordic states.

The 23rd anniversary of the anti-communist uprising in Romania

A series of events have been held across Romania this week to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of the anti-communist revolution in Romania and commemorate the victims of the communist repression of December 1989. The uprising started in the western city of Timisoara and then spread to other big cities. On the 22nd of December, hundreds of thousands of protesters stormed the Communist Party’s Central Committee. The dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena fled the building but were soon arrested and then executed on the 25th of December following a hasty trial. Romania saw the most violent regime change in the former eastern bloc, with more than 1,000 people being killed in the process.

Romanian football teams learn their opponents in the Europa League

Following the draw in the Swiss town of Nyon, the Romanian champions CFR Cluj will meet the Italian side Internazionale Milano in the Europa League round of 32. Steaua Bucharest, Romania’s second team in the competition, will face the Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam. Both CFR and Steaua will play their first games away on the 16th of February. The return matches are scheduled for the 21st of February.