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| The Week in Review 12-18/12/2010 |
| (2010-12-17) |
| Last updated: 2010-12-20 15:19 EET |
Romanian president Traian Basescu on Thursday and Friday took part in the winter meeting of the European Council in Brussels, where talks focused on economic topics. The agenda of the meeting also included the EU enlargement and the implementation of the Europa 2020 Strategy, which plays a key part in overcoming the economic crisis and promoting structural reforms in the Union.
The EU heads of state and government also endorsed a number of modifications to the EU Treaty to the effect that a permanent mechanism will be established to help states in difficulty. The EU objectives in relation to strategic partners such as the USA, China and Russia were also discussed, and the European leaders approved Montenegro's EU accession candidacy.
The Romanian government on Tuesday asked Parliament for a vote of confidence on the draft framework law on the unified public sector wage scheme, and on the 2011 public sector salaries bill. Prime Minister Emil Boc said the main goal of the law was to include all positions in a unified hierarchy.
According to the cabinet leader, a ceiling was set for bonuses not to exceed 30% of the basic salary. The bill on the 2011 public sector salaries stipulates a 15% increase of the wages that were cut this year by 25%. The Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party and the Conservative Party in opposition, tabled two motions of censure against these bills.
On Wednesday, President Traian Basescu promulgated the law on the unified public pension system in Romania, after the Constitutional Court ruled that its provisions were in line with the country's fundamental law and dismissed the claims of the opposition parties as ungrounded. The government already passed the bill in February, but the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making body in this respect, only endorsed the draft law in September.
At that time, the Social Democratic Party and National Liberal Party, in opposition, claimed the bill was endorsed in spite of the lack of quorum. Later, the law was returned by President Basescu to Parliament on grounds that setting the retirement age at 65 for both men and women comes against the local social and economic conditions in Romania.
The President suggested that women should retire at 63, and Parliament agreed with this suggestion in early December. The new law makes pension benefits proportional to individual contributions to pension funds, and eliminates all special pensions that had been so far been paid to the police and army personnel.
President Traian Basescu held a new round of consultations with the parties in the ruling coalition, namely the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the National Union for the Progress of Romania, and with the main opposition party in Romania, the Social Democratic Party.
The talks focused on the economic and social prospects for the next 2 years and on the country's Schengen accession. The head of state pointed out that, in 2011, Romania will see a 1.5% economic growth rate, based on investments, particularly in the transport and environment sectors.
A parallel measure will be to carry on public sector redundancy and spending reduction programmes. On the other hand, the President resumed his harsh criticism of the Higher Council of Magistrates, the integrity watchdog in the Romanian judicial system. According to the President, the Council failed to do its duty and thus contributed to the country's losing its credibility.
The Chamber of Deputies turned down two requests made by the National Anti-corruption Directorate against the former Youth and Sports Minister Monica Iabob Ridzi, who is suspected of malfeasance in office. Prosecutors requested permission to search Ridzi's computers for criminal evidence, and to broaden the criminal investigation.
Tuesday's vote proved that political parties continue to protect their members from corruption charges. President Traian Basescu said the vote harms both the ruling party and Romania itself. Basescu explained that the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party, in opposition, tried to create “a second Nastase case.”
In the past, the former prime minister and president of the Social Democratic Party, Adrian Nastase, charged with corruption, was similarly protected from prosecutors by a Parliament vote.
The speaker of the Senate of Romania, Mircea Geoana, was suspended on Monday for six months from the Social Democratic Party in opposition, on grounds that he made public statements against the interests of his party. In turn, Geoana, the holder of the second most important position in the Romanian state, said the decision came against party regulations.
Geoana, a former president of the Social Democratic Party, ran for presidency in 2009 and lost by a small margin in the run-off to the incumbent head of state, Traian Basescu.
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