The recent scandal of disinfectants used in the Romanian hospitals was the last piece in a series of crisis that the ministry led by Patriciu Achimas-Cadariu had to manage, ending up with a resignation on the 9th of May. On the 6th of May, President Klaus Iohannis was requesting from the Ministry of Health a more exact analysis, and a clearer emergency plan to address the issue of diluted disinfectant substances used in the hospitals and provided by a local company Hexy Pharma. Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos, on the other hand, was stating on Friday, May 5th that he was not considering changing the minister, but finding actual solutions and preventing other problems that might occur....more »

Ana Raducu, the minister of European Funds, stepped down from her position after Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos requested her resignation. According to the press release of the Ministry of European Funds, the Prime minister was disappointed in her activity when it comes to short term objectives. The projects she initiated are currently being implemented and represent over 40% of the 2014-2020 allocations – five programs worth 20 billion EUR from EU funds, and national co-financing. Ciolos accepted her resignation and will nominate a new minister to President Klaus Iohannis....more »

Augustin Lazar has been nominated by the Minister of Justice for the position of General Prosecutor of Romania. The proposition, altogether with the positive notice from the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM) after his successful interview, go directly to the President of Romania for final approval and appointment. During his interview with CSM he presented a managerial project that aims to reset the Public Ministry in order to solve the large number of files: “The Managerial project proposes to reform the Public Ministry and enhance it to European standards when it comes to management, and mentality. The project is based on a profound knowledge of this Ministry, that comes not only from experience, but also from the researcher activity I have had as a professor”, he confessed....more »

Klaus Iohannis and Ukrainian President Petro Porosenko have signed Thursday during Porosenko's official visit at Cotroceni, a protocol for the relaunching of the Presidential Mixt Committee. According to Iohannis, the Committee will be an instrument that will impulsionate the two countries to solve the existing themes on the bilateral agenda, and will allow them to "fully value the potential of cooperation" between the countries, giving the example of the Bastroe canal. Porosenko declared that his country supports the creation of a NATO fleet in the Black Sea, and a Romanian-Ukrainian-Bulgarian brigade as the one between Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine....more »

The Senate rejected on April 20, 2016 the legislative proposal for the reduction of the number of representatives in the two chambers of the Parliament (300 instead of the current 588). In 2009, a referendum took place, and the participa...more »

Romanian labor ministry, Claudia-Ana Costea, resigned on April 14, 2016, after a scandal concerning the project the law regarding the salaries of the employees in the public sector. On April 18, 2016, Dragos Nicolae Pislaru was appointed as the new Ministry of Labor in the Ciolos Government. Pislaru was previously counsellor of the Prime Minister. He is an economist, graduate from of the Economic Studies in Bucharest where he was also a lecturer, and of the School of Economics and Political Science in London. He was an associate researcher at Romanian Center for economic Policies, and executive director within the Group of Applied Economy. Finalizing a unitary salary law was one of the objectives assumed by the Ministry of Labor at the beginning of the mandate. The finalizing term was supposed to be October 2016. After being subject to several changes of deadlines, and at least ten different forms where the Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy, Commerce and Relations with the Business Sector, Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration, Ministry of Justice, and syndicates have participated, the final draft of the law, that was supposed to be implemented in 4 years, kept the principle that no salary needs to drop, and the report between the minimum and the maximum wages have to be 1/15. ...more »

The final form of the giving in payment law that will extinguish obligations from mortgage loans regarding immovable properties was voted by 207 deputies. If President Klaus Iohannis would promulgate it, it will come to force in 15 days from that moment. The first attempt of issuing this law (25 November, Chamber of Deputies) was stopped by President Klaus Iohannis, who sent it back to the Parliament for reexamination, on the 18th of December, explaining how “The law is welcomed, but the form adopted by the Parliament, instead of helping the ones with mortgage loans, risks to create new difficulties, even to the point when it is impossible to apply it. Unclear terminology, mismatch with current regulations, and creating inequity situations among the beneficiaries of the law, are just a few of the problems of the regulatory document. Thus, today I resent the law to the Parliament, for reexamining. It is the Legislator’s attribution to define more rigorously the terms they use, so that confusions and haziness are avoided.”...more »

Technical surveillance warrants ordered in criminal proceedings were adopted on March 11, 2016 through a government ordinance in a special sitting. With the use of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) infrastructure, the prosecutors and criminal investigation bodies will be the only competent for enforcing the wiretapping warrants during criminal investigations, with direct use of technical systems and appropriate procedures. The Criminal Procedure Code, the Judicial Organization Law, the Statutes of the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) and the SRI Statutes were all ammended in order to make room for new regulations.  ...more »

European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Vera Jourova said in a press conference at the European Commission office in Bucharest that the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism will be kept in 2016, as the recently released report includes both progress registered by Romania and things that still need to be worked on. Jourova declared that Romania and Romanians have made great efforts to combat corruption and defend the independence of justice. ...more »

A memorandum, called "Increasing transparency and standardizing the posting of information of public interest" was initiated by the Ministry for Public Consultations and Civic Dialogue and the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, stating that Central and local governmental authorities are asked to post online budget implementation, vacancies and centralized procurement data. "The Ministry for Public Consultations and Civic Dialogue is achieving today, three months after the inauguration of the incumbent government and the establishment from scratch of the ministry, one of the major objectives pledged under the Sectorial Measure Plan," says Minister for Public Consultations and Civic Dialogue Violeta Alexandru. ...more »