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| The Week in Review 13-19/05/2013 |
| (2013-05-18) |
| Last updated: 2013-05-19 13:06 EET |
New prosecutors at the helm of the General Prosecutor’s Office, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism
After a long period when the top positions at the helm of the General Prosecutor’s Office, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and the Directorate Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism were held only by interim chiefs, the new prosecutors have finally taken over their posts this week, after President Traian Basescu signed the decrees approving their nomination. The head of state as well as Prime Minister Victor Ponta expect the six newly-appointed prosecutors to work in a transparent manner and fight hard against corruption.
President Traian Basescu: “I have urged the six to work as a team. Another thing I have asked from them is to live up to the level of efficiency required for the battle against corruption, against high-level corruption in particular. Finally, my third requirement was for them to fight organized crime.”
In turn, Prime Minister Victor Ponta has urged the six to enforce the law no matter the person investigated, and not to let political influences affect their judgment.
Victor Ponta: “You don’t owe anything to anyone, either to the ones who have nominated you, or to those who approved your nomination. Your only duty is to enforce the law in an as thorough manner as possible. This is an extremely favorable context, one of stability, after a long interim period.”
The European Commission believes it’s important for the new prosecutors to prove they are rigorous and independent. The European Commission has also highlighted the importance of these leaders and the institutions they head for the rule of law and for building the trust in the Romanian justice system which has been, ever since the country’s EU accession 2007, under special monitoring. The community executive has praised the activity of the previous prosecutors, which ended in the conviction of some high-level politicians, former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase included.
Romania has reported economic growth this year, while the EU still fights recession
The National Statistics Institute in Bucharest has announced that in the first 3 months of the year Romania reported a 0.5% economic growth rate since the last quarter of 2012. At the same time, the country’s GDP went up by 2.1% as compared to the first quarter of 2012. Bucharest authorities are expecting a 1.6% increase in the GDP this year, slightly over the 1.5% level forecast by the IMF. On the other hand, the EU went into recession in the first quarter of this year, and the Eurozone continues to fight recession, the longest since the introduction of the single currency in 1999. The EU economy went down 0.1%, after the 0.5% drop during the last three months of 2012. France, the second-largest European economy, went into recession again with a 0.2% decreasein the first three months of the year, while Italy, the eurozone’s third largest economy entered its seventh consecutive quarter of contraction.
EU Commissioner for Agriculture Romanian Dacian Ciolos attended a recent Conference of Farmers held in Bucharest
Attending the recent National Conference of Farmers, EU Commissioner for Agriculture Romanian Dacian Ciolos has said Romania needs a long-term strategy in this sector that should provide clear-cut and easy-to-apply solutions. On the other hand, he believes Romania is the only EU Member State whose national agricultural organizations are not represented in European confederations. Moreover Ciolos estimates that Romania has the potential to become an important player on the European cereal market. According to the White Book of the Council of Foreign Investors, Romania ranks 5th at EU level in terms of the country’s farmland, although it contributes less than 3% to the EU’s overall agricultural output.
A new law on the restitution of properties confiscated by communists has been promulgated
Romanian President Traian Basescu has this week promulgated a new law that speeds up the process of giving back properties confiscated during the communist regime. The restitution process is based on three principles: the restitution of properties in kind, wherever possible, the restitution in money that shall be paid in annual installments and, in order to keep real estate speculators at bay, the taxation of litigious rights by 85%. The owners’ representatives have voiced disapproval with not having been consulted on the matter and are doubting the fact that the new law will provide a fair solution for those whose properties were abusively seized during communism. According to the Government, Romania has already paid 5 billion euros worth of damages to former owners, and still has to pay another 8 billion.
The privatization of the Romanian Freight Company CFR Marfa has been resumed, after having previously failed
The privatization of the Romanian Railway Freight Company CFR Marfa, as stipulated in the precautionary agreement that Romania signed with the International Monetary Fund in 2011, has been resumed on Thursday. Previously, the privatization commission with the Romanian Transport Ministry announced that none of the three investors who had submitted applications had qualified to the next stage. Therefore, the Ministry has relaxed some of the conditions imposed on those interested in the company’s privatization and has decreased the required turnover five times, from 100 million euros to 20 million euros. Nevertheless, the starting price of 180 million euros has been kept in place.
The Romanian soldier injured in Afghanistan has been decorated
A Romanian soldier badly injured while on a mission to Afghanistan last year, following the explosion of an IED has been decorated upon returning to Romania by President Traian Basescu and the Defense Minister. Sergeant Florinel Enache was granted the National Medal for “Faithful Service” First Class and the Romanian Army’s Badge of Honor. Florinel Enache has spent this past year in a hospital in the United States, where he was visited by the American President Barack Obama.
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