BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania pledged on Wednesday to step up the fight against corruption after the European Commission criticised the new member for poor progress in combating widespread abuse.
Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said the special report from Brussels would "motivate" Romania to press ahead with reforms to clean up and improve the justice system.
"I assure European Commission representatives that we will accelerate measures ... We want every Romanian citizen to feel that justice is done correctly," Tariceanu said.
Internal Market Information System launched in Romania
The Internal Market Information System (IMI) was launched on June 23 in Romania, at the Parliament Palace, in the presence of the European Commission representative Nicholas Leapman.
IMI is an information system designed to facilitate mutual assistance and information exchange between member states. It provides a tool for secure and fast data exchange among European authorities, allowing them to work together effectively despite barriers due to different languages and administrative procedures and structures.
"We want to ease the access of the public administration and local authorities to exchanging information with officials from other countries," Leapman said.
The system was launched in the EU four months ago for four professions and the second stage will cover 100 professions and 3,000 authorities involved.
Attending the launch, head of the Department for European Affairs Adrian Ciocanea said that this "is one of the most important programs for liberalization of the internal market."
IMI consists in a database of the relevant authorities of the EU states, involved in the implementation, on their territory, of the legislation regarding the internal market.
There will be a national IMI coordinator for each member state. The IMI coordinator in Romania will be the Minister of Education, Research and Youth and the Health Ministry.
The European Commission hosts and administrates the IMI system at its data center in Luxembourg.
IMI is an information system designed to facilitate mutual assistance and information exchange between member states. It provides a tool for secure and fast data exchange among European authorities, allowing them to work together effectively despite barriers due to different languages and administrative procedures and structures.
"We want to ease the access of the public administration and local authorities to exchanging information with officials from other countries," Leapman said.
The system was launched in the EU four months ago for four professions and the second stage will cover 100 professions and 3,000 authorities involved.
Attending the launch, head of the Department for European Affairs Adrian Ciocanea said that this "is one of the most important programs for liberalization of the internal market."
IMI consists in a database of the relevant authorities of the EU states, involved in the implementation, on their territory, of the legislation regarding the internal market.
There will be a national IMI coordinator for each member state. The IMI coordinator in Romania will be the Minister of Education, Research and Youth and the Health Ministry.
The European Commission hosts and administrates the IMI system at its data center in Luxembourg.
Romania’s Senate Goes Mad
Romania’s Senate has passed a law which obliges the media to present an equal proportion of positive news, in order to balance the “bad” news in the Romanian media. One of the most extraordinary facts about this law is that it was passed unanimously by Romania’s Senate. What were they thinking?
The implications of this media law are boggling: to impose a “positive news” rule on a free media is technically impossible in an open society. To do so would require a comprehensive system of censorship, a clampdown on freedom of expression that would be inadmissible within the EU; it would debilitate the media and be a throwback to the Communist era. It would be unacceptable to the media, the government, the public and the EU. It is unworkable, unthinkable, impossible.
But due to the peculiarities of Romania’s constitution it is very close to becoming law: the Senate can pass laws regarding the audio visual sector, even if rejected by the lower house (as it was). It is expected that the President will now reject the law. It will be returned to the Senate and they can pass the law again and bypass the Presidential veto. My belief is that the Senate will come to their senses and will actually read the small print this time.
It is interesting to consider how this law was passed as it reveals the byzantine way that democracy functions in Romania. Laws are passed in Romania with a speed and abandon that is bewildering, a process the Romanians describe as a “legislative conveyor belt”. The government is able to churn out “emergency ordinances” with remarkable ease and these are law until approved, or rejected, by Parliament.
The main feature of this approach is that ministers, or Senators in this case, don’t have time to actually read the proposed laws. Each law will have its sponsoring minister, or senator, who will say “you support my law and I will support yours”. In this way a large number of laws can be passed in a single sitting, with no time wasted reading the small print. If there is a mistake or a scandal it can be amended with another law, rejected by Parliament, or just forgotten (as happens to most of them). Needless to say this controversial media law was rushed through the Senate in a few minutes with a wink and a nod by its sponsor – the extreme nationalist former psychiatric patient, Gheorghe Funar.
Although media ownership patterns raise some eyebrows, the Romanian press is relatively free by EU standards. But this has not resulted in an increase in quality, in fact the result is sensationalism and the increase of “bad” news. The Romanian airwaves are filled with stories of rape, murder, car crashes and theft. In other words, Romania is becoming like the other EU Member States in terms of press freedom.
In Western Europe the public are used to media sensationalism and they know how to differentiate between real life and what is reported in the media. In Romania this is not the case and many people assume their country has gone to the dogs because of what they see on the media. This is particularly true among the elderly and the rural population. But it is rather shocking to find that Romania’s senators share the same level of understanding about the media as a village peasant. The Senators, and the elderly peasants, fondly remember the days when all news was good news (Ceausescu’s daily activities being the main bulletin of the day) and when “bad” news was a rarity – references to Western disasters or exposing “enemies of the people”.
This law is a pathetic attempt to roll back the negativity the Senators see in the media, a negativity they claim makes Romanians depressed. It shows the outmoded political reflexes of the Senators, who have employed classic Communist Party tactics. They want to address the problem (negative media) through proscriptive legislation, without reference to the public, other political groupings or (God forbid) the media. This was feasible under Communism, when irrational laws could be passed, without consultation, to be implemented by an all powerful party apparatus.
If one understands the era in which Romania’s Senators grew up in, this Alice-in-Wonderland media law makes perfect sense. What it really shows is how stuck in the past are Romania’s fossilised Senators, most of whom are well past their retirement age. One wonders how they have managed to “get away with it” so far, having avoided other monumental gaffes of this nature in the last 17 years.
Rupert Wolfe Murray was the former team leader of the EU Phare Project to the National Audiovisual Council of Romania (www.cna.ro)
This article was first published on the Radio Free Europe website.
The implications of this media law are boggling: to impose a “positive news” rule on a free media is technically impossible in an open society. To do so would require a comprehensive system of censorship, a clampdown on freedom of expression that would be inadmissible within the EU; it would debilitate the media and be a throwback to the Communist era. It would be unacceptable to the media, the government, the public and the EU. It is unworkable, unthinkable, impossible.
But due to the peculiarities of Romania’s constitution it is very close to becoming law: the Senate can pass laws regarding the audio visual sector, even if rejected by the lower house (as it was). It is expected that the President will now reject the law. It will be returned to the Senate and they can pass the law again and bypass the Presidential veto. My belief is that the Senate will come to their senses and will actually read the small print this time.
It is interesting to consider how this law was passed as it reveals the byzantine way that democracy functions in Romania. Laws are passed in Romania with a speed and abandon that is bewildering, a process the Romanians describe as a “legislative conveyor belt”. The government is able to churn out “emergency ordinances” with remarkable ease and these are law until approved, or rejected, by Parliament.
The main feature of this approach is that ministers, or Senators in this case, don’t have time to actually read the proposed laws. Each law will have its sponsoring minister, or senator, who will say “you support my law and I will support yours”. In this way a large number of laws can be passed in a single sitting, with no time wasted reading the small print. If there is a mistake or a scandal it can be amended with another law, rejected by Parliament, or just forgotten (as happens to most of them). Needless to say this controversial media law was rushed through the Senate in a few minutes with a wink and a nod by its sponsor – the extreme nationalist former psychiatric patient, Gheorghe Funar.
Although media ownership patterns raise some eyebrows, the Romanian press is relatively free by EU standards. But this has not resulted in an increase in quality, in fact the result is sensationalism and the increase of “bad” news. The Romanian airwaves are filled with stories of rape, murder, car crashes and theft. In other words, Romania is becoming like the other EU Member States in terms of press freedom.
In Western Europe the public are used to media sensationalism and they know how to differentiate between real life and what is reported in the media. In Romania this is not the case and many people assume their country has gone to the dogs because of what they see on the media. This is particularly true among the elderly and the rural population. But it is rather shocking to find that Romania’s senators share the same level of understanding about the media as a village peasant. The Senators, and the elderly peasants, fondly remember the days when all news was good news (Ceausescu’s daily activities being the main bulletin of the day) and when “bad” news was a rarity – references to Western disasters or exposing “enemies of the people”.
This law is a pathetic attempt to roll back the negativity the Senators see in the media, a negativity they claim makes Romanians depressed. It shows the outmoded political reflexes of the Senators, who have employed classic Communist Party tactics. They want to address the problem (negative media) through proscriptive legislation, without reference to the public, other political groupings or (God forbid) the media. This was feasible under Communism, when irrational laws could be passed, without consultation, to be implemented by an all powerful party apparatus.
If one understands the era in which Romania’s Senators grew up in, this Alice-in-Wonderland media law makes perfect sense. What it really shows is how stuck in the past are Romania’s fossilised Senators, most of whom are well past their retirement age. One wonders how they have managed to “get away with it” so far, having avoided other monumental gaffes of this nature in the last 17 years.
Rupert Wolfe Murray was the former team leader of the EU Phare Project to the National Audiovisual Council of Romania (www.cna.ro)
This article was first published on the Radio Free Europe website.
Romania gives nod to airline
ROMANIA - The Romanian National Tourist Office has named Austrian Airlines as the designated, air carrier for travel from North America to the European nation.
According to Simion Alb, with the Romanian National Tourist Office, he has received consistently positive feedback about Austrian Airlines’ service from individuals, families, travel agents and tour operators.
“We look forward to expanding our working relationship with Austrian Airlines even further in the future to include more of continental Europe, which is well served by Austrian Airlines, as well as other global points of origin also served by the Austrian Airlines Group, such as Tokyo, Osaka, Beijing, Sydney and Kuala Lumpur,” he said.
The Romanian National Tourist Office has partnered with Austrian Airlines since 2002.
“Of course, we are pleased that Austrian Airlines has been given this preferred designation by the Romanian National Tourist Office,” said Paul Paflik of Austrian Airlines.
“Austrian Airlines has frequent service, via Vienna, to Bucharest, Cluj, Sibiu, Timisoara and Iasi.”
According to Simion Alb, with the Romanian National Tourist Office, he has received consistently positive feedback about Austrian Airlines’ service from individuals, families, travel agents and tour operators.
“We look forward to expanding our working relationship with Austrian Airlines even further in the future to include more of continental Europe, which is well served by Austrian Airlines, as well as other global points of origin also served by the Austrian Airlines Group, such as Tokyo, Osaka, Beijing, Sydney and Kuala Lumpur,” he said.
The Romanian National Tourist Office has partnered with Austrian Airlines since 2002.
“Of course, we are pleased that Austrian Airlines has been given this preferred designation by the Romanian National Tourist Office,” said Paul Paflik of Austrian Airlines.
“Austrian Airlines has frequent service, via Vienna, to Bucharest, Cluj, Sibiu, Timisoara and Iasi.”
Romanian child rape victim allowed abortion
NN) -- A Romanian government committee has decided to allow a pregnant 11-year-old who was raped by her teenage uncle to have an abortion, a government spokesman said Friday.
The girl is 21 weeks pregnant -- too far along to have an abortion in Romania, where the limit is 14 weeks unless the pregnancy poses problems for the mother's health, said the spokesman, who asked not to be named.
The girl's parents had said they would take their daughter to Britain for an abortion if the committee did not allow her to have one in Romania. Abortions are legal in Britain up to 24 weeks.
It was unclear whether the parents would still take the girl to Britain following the committee's decision, reached late Thursday.
Church groups have opposed an abortion for the girl, the government spokesman said. The Romanian Orthodox Church has urged the girl to keep the baby, and has said it will take care of the baby if the family wants to give it up for adoption, he said.
The uncle who raped the girl has since disappeared, the Romanian Health Ministry said. Media reports say the uncle is age 19.
The girl is 21 weeks pregnant -- too far along to have an abortion in Romania, where the limit is 14 weeks unless the pregnancy poses problems for the mother's health, said the spokesman, who asked not to be named.
The girl's parents had said they would take their daughter to Britain for an abortion if the committee did not allow her to have one in Romania. Abortions are legal in Britain up to 24 weeks.
It was unclear whether the parents would still take the girl to Britain following the committee's decision, reached late Thursday.
Church groups have opposed an abortion for the girl, the government spokesman said. The Romanian Orthodox Church has urged the girl to keep the baby, and has said it will take care of the baby if the family wants to give it up for adoption, he said.
The uncle who raped the girl has since disappeared, the Romanian Health Ministry said. Media reports say the uncle is age 19.
Romania – 2nd Largest Eastern European Country In EU
Romania is the second largest Eastern European country in the EU, following Poland. The Romanian retail market is experiencing tremendous growth. According to Eurostat, the Romanian retail trade expanded by 13.9 percent in 2007, or seven times the rate of growth in the European retail market as a whole. While this growth is impressive it is in part due to the low starting point. Only recently has modern retail reached Romanians outside the major cites. 2007 saw a major push of retail chains into smaller Romanian cities. With a greater proportion of the Romanian population having access to modern retail, agri-food imports have surged. Although the EU market is largely closed to U.S. exporters of meat and meat products, promising export prospects remain. The best of these are distilled spirits, almonds, and fruit juice.
Romania has continued its macroeconomic stability and growth. Over the past few years the government has made the necessary economic reforms to gain entrance to the European Union. This monumental event was accomplished on January 1st 2007. As with many of its neighbors, Romania’s accession to the EU has lowered the Government appetite for reform. This is likely to dampen long term growth, but with some of the lowest costs in the EU, GDP growth in Romania will likely out perform most of its EU competitors.
The economy continued to grow in 2007, though the rate slowed to 6 percent compared to 7.7 percent in 2006. The service and construction sectors continue to be the most important engines for growth in Romania.
Romania’s economy continues to converge toward European norms. Services now represent about 50 percent of the economy, up from 46 percent in 2004. As the economy expands this number is likely to rise. Agriculture saw its contribution to the national economy shrink yet again. A combination of poor weather conditions and delayed government reforms has seen the agricultural sector (including forestry) decline from 13 percent in 2001 to only 6.6 percent in 2007. Regardless of its relative decline the agricultural sector still employs roughly a third of the population and is therefore important to the overall economic well-being of the country.
Romanian GDP per capita rose to USD 7,800 in 2007 (up from USD 1,585 in 1999), Romania is a middle-income country. As a result of the increasing food-products prices, determined by an extremely low crop production and increasing world prices, the inflation rate rose from 4.9 percent in 2006 to 6.6 percent in 2007. The trade deficit widened by 45 percent in 2007, to USD 29 billion (18 percent of GDP) – tripling in only three years (2004-2007).
Romania has continued its macroeconomic stability and growth. Over the past few years the government has made the necessary economic reforms to gain entrance to the European Union. This monumental event was accomplished on January 1st 2007. As with many of its neighbors, Romania’s accession to the EU has lowered the Government appetite for reform. This is likely to dampen long term growth, but with some of the lowest costs in the EU, GDP growth in Romania will likely out perform most of its EU competitors.
The economy continued to grow in 2007, though the rate slowed to 6 percent compared to 7.7 percent in 2006. The service and construction sectors continue to be the most important engines for growth in Romania.
Romania’s economy continues to converge toward European norms. Services now represent about 50 percent of the economy, up from 46 percent in 2004. As the economy expands this number is likely to rise. Agriculture saw its contribution to the national economy shrink yet again. A combination of poor weather conditions and delayed government reforms has seen the agricultural sector (including forestry) decline from 13 percent in 2001 to only 6.6 percent in 2007. Regardless of its relative decline the agricultural sector still employs roughly a third of the population and is therefore important to the overall economic well-being of the country.
Romanian GDP per capita rose to USD 7,800 in 2007 (up from USD 1,585 in 1999), Romania is a middle-income country. As a result of the increasing food-products prices, determined by an extremely low crop production and increasing world prices, the inflation rate rose from 4.9 percent in 2006 to 6.6 percent in 2007. The trade deficit widened by 45 percent in 2007, to USD 29 billion (18 percent of GDP) – tripling in only three years (2004-2007).
EU asks Romania to clarify aid for Nokia plant
BRUSSELS, March 28 (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Friday it had written to Romania's government to request more information about possible state subsidies for a plant operated by mobile phone maker Nokia. "I can confirm that the competition department of the Commission wrote to the Romanian authorities back in February and that we received a reply on March 17," Jonathan Todd, the Commission's competition spokesman, told a daily news briefing.
The Commission, the EU executive, was "examining carefully" the information received from Romania, he said, adding that no formal state aid investigation had yet been opened.
"The reason we wrote is purely precautionary, just to establish whether there has been any state subsidy and if so, whether those subsidies are in line with EU state aid rules," Todd said. (Reporting by Jeremy Smith; Editing by Dale Hudson)
The Commission, the EU executive, was "examining carefully" the information received from Romania, he said, adding that no formal state aid investigation had yet been opened.
"The reason we wrote is purely precautionary, just to establish whether there has been any state subsidy and if so, whether those subsidies are in line with EU state aid rules," Todd said. (Reporting by Jeremy Smith; Editing by Dale Hudson)
Romania 'To Oppose Kosovo' At NATO Talks
28 March 2008 Bucharest _ Romania is set to repeat its opposition to Kosovo's independence at the upcoming NATO Summit in Bucharest.
"We will reaffirm very clearly our stance saying that the required conditions are not fulfilled so that Romania may recognise the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo," Romania's Defence Minister, Teodor Melescanu told the state-owned Rompres news agency."Romania's stance on the issue is based both on reasons related to the norms of the international law and on practical reasons, taking into account that the borders of the province are not recognised by some of its neighbors," Melescanu emphasised.Romania's President Traian Basescu has repeatedly said his country will not recognise the unilaterally declared independence by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders.Romania cannot acknowledge Kosovo's independence in the absence of a UN resolution and in the absence of the observance of the international law, Basescu argued.Political analysts also say Bucharest is concerned that any recognition of Kosovo's independence could lead to increased demands for autonomy by Romania's ethnic Hungarian minority in the west of the country.Last week while unveiling the NATO Summit agenda, Romania's Foreign Minister Adrian Cioroianu said Romania supports the alliance's continued role in maintaining peace and stability in Kosovo.Romania is only a handful of European Union member states not to have recognised Kosovo's February 17 declaration of independence from Serbia.Belgrade, backed by Russia, argues the move is illegal since the 1999 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, which put in place a UN administration in Serbia's southern province following the 1998-1999 war, is still valid and the resolution explicitly refers to Kosovo as lying within Serbia's borders.As many as 24 presidents, 26 prime ministers and 86 ministers are due to attend the NATO Summit, which is taking place between April 2-4 in the Romanian capital.According to Cioroianu's plans, the agenda will focus on the alliance's expansion eastwards and maintaining peace in the Balkans in light of Kosovo's declaration of independence.Albania, Croatia and Macedonia are all hoping to receive invitations to join NATO at the summit.
"We will reaffirm very clearly our stance saying that the required conditions are not fulfilled so that Romania may recognise the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo," Romania's Defence Minister, Teodor Melescanu told the state-owned Rompres news agency."Romania's stance on the issue is based both on reasons related to the norms of the international law and on practical reasons, taking into account that the borders of the province are not recognised by some of its neighbors," Melescanu emphasised.Romania's President Traian Basescu has repeatedly said his country will not recognise the unilaterally declared independence by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders.Romania cannot acknowledge Kosovo's independence in the absence of a UN resolution and in the absence of the observance of the international law, Basescu argued.Political analysts also say Bucharest is concerned that any recognition of Kosovo's independence could lead to increased demands for autonomy by Romania's ethnic Hungarian minority in the west of the country.Last week while unveiling the NATO Summit agenda, Romania's Foreign Minister Adrian Cioroianu said Romania supports the alliance's continued role in maintaining peace and stability in Kosovo.Romania is only a handful of European Union member states not to have recognised Kosovo's February 17 declaration of independence from Serbia.Belgrade, backed by Russia, argues the move is illegal since the 1999 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, which put in place a UN administration in Serbia's southern province following the 1998-1999 war, is still valid and the resolution explicitly refers to Kosovo as lying within Serbia's borders.As many as 24 presidents, 26 prime ministers and 86 ministers are due to attend the NATO Summit, which is taking place between April 2-4 in the Romanian capital.According to Cioroianu's plans, the agenda will focus on the alliance's expansion eastwards and maintaining peace in the Balkans in light of Kosovo's declaration of independence.Albania, Croatia and Macedonia are all hoping to receive invitations to join NATO at the summit.
Ryanair to launch two routes from Romania to Italy
BUCHAREST, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Irish low-cost airline Ryanair will start two routes from Romania's western city of Arad and the Black Sea port of Constanta to Italy's Milan and Pisa respectively, the company said on Wednesday. Flights will begin in April and the company said it expects to carry about 80,000 passengers in the first year.
"We made the first step into this market in Arad and Constanta because we reached low cost deals with these airports," said Tomasz Kulakowski, Ryanair's sales and marketing manager for central Europe.
Ryanair also said it was in talks with other regional airports in Romania and its southern neighbour Bulgaria. (Reporting by Marius Zaharia; Editing by David Cowell)
"We made the first step into this market in Arad and Constanta because we reached low cost deals with these airports," said Tomasz Kulakowski, Ryanair's sales and marketing manager for central Europe.
Ryanair also said it was in talks with other regional airports in Romania and its southern neighbour Bulgaria. (Reporting by Marius Zaharia; Editing by David Cowell)
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