Romanian parliament’s agenda of the week
This week’s Parliament session kicks off with busy agenda on Monday. Romanian senators in special committees are expected to debate the goverment’s proposal of a draft law concerning the pension system according to a new formula. Debates are also expected in parliament’s lower house on Tuesday when deputies will discuss a simple motion put forward by the opposition National Liberal (PNL) and Save Romania (USR) parties against Justice Minister Tudorel Toader. A vote on the matter is expected on Wednesday. A special parliament committee is also expected to issue a report concerning Government Ordinance #92, a document designed to change or complete existing legal regulations.
Romania’s population in further decline
Romania’s population is in further decline, according to figures issued by the country’s National Institute of Statistics on Monday. On 1st of July, 2018, permanent resident population hit 22,178 thousands people, down by 0.1% as against 1st of July, 2017, with a majority of female and urban population (56.4% and 51.2%, respectively). Demographic ageing has increased, the elderly population of 65 years old and over exceeding by almost 395,000 people the young population of 0‐14 years. Average age of the population was 41.4 years, which is 0.2 years higher than figures on 1st of July, 2017.
Railway connecting Cluj-Napoca to Vienna
Austria’s railways operator ÖBB is expected to launch a new railway line connecting capital Vienna to the Romanian Transylvanian town on Cluj-Napoca via Hungary’s capital Budapest in December. However, the project in co-operation with Hungarian and Romanian railway operators (MÁV and CFR) will include only Hungarian and Romanian coaches.The new Transylvania train will start operating on December 9. There is no train currently connecting Cluj-Napoca to Vienna as travelers need to change trains in Budapest. The Austrian Federal Railways (German: Österreichische Bundesbahnen or ÖBB) is the national railway system of Austria, also administrating Liechtenstein’s railways. The ÖBB group is owned entirely by the Republic of Austria and is divided into several separate businesses managing infrastructure and operating passenger and freight services.
EU Commissioner Corina Creţu on a visit to Romania
EU Commisioner for Regional Affairs Corina Creţu starts a two-day visit to Romania on Monday. Talks with Romanian officials are expected to include issues concerning the EU’s cohesion policies. „In my view, this is Europe, which benefits a lot from this engine which is cohesion policy. The policy is the most important investment tool in innovation, in everything: education, infrastructure. Without cohesion policy, I cannot imagine the European Union going on”, Ms. Creţu told Euronews earlier this year. The EU commissioner is also expected to attend a conference on tha matter in the capital Bucharest.
Alexandru Danga/adanga
