Press Review - November 29, 2017

11.29.2017 By Oana Gavrila

Parliament Chamber Leaders Tell US to Trust Romanian Parliament on Justice Bills

Romanian Lower Chamber speaker Liviu Dragnea and Senate Chairman Calin Popescu Tariceanu on Tuesday responded to United States’ statement urging the Romanian Parliament to reject judicial proposals that could weaken the rule of law.

“We want to stress that any discussion with our partners must start from a fundamental constitutional principle, the same both in Romania and the USA, according to which Parliament's debates, decisions and votes are conducted in the name of popular sovereignty and cannot subjected to any form of pressure,” a press release from the two leaders reads.

Dragnea and Tariceanu urged the United States to trust the Parliament while it debates the justice bills, as it is the same forum that allocated 2% of Romania’s GDP for defense purposes, decided that Romania participates in theaters of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and cooperates in the anti-DAESH international coalition and passed the bill on the Patriot missile systems acquisition.

The two leaders’ statement concludes that significant abuses within the justice system led to the need for a judicial overhaul and adds that Parliament is willing to provide the US Department of State with the complete documentation regarding the package of laws that brings changes to the justice system.

The United States Department of State on Monday released a statement urging the Romanian Parliament to reject proposals included in the justice bills which could weaken the rule of law and endanger the fight against corruption.

The respective package of laws was sent to Parliament by justice minister Tudorel Toader and includes changes to the Judicial Inspection, a special unit within the country’s top justice watchdog Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) and to the way in which the chief prosecutors are appointed, as well as the president’s right to refuse the nominated candidates. The bills have been criticized by the European Commission, Romanian and foreign officials and thousands of magistrates as putting the justice system under political control and backtracking Romania’s anti-corruption efforts.

A special parliamentary commission is currently debating the bills.

PMP Seeks To Postpone Wage Hikes for a Year

Romanian parliamentary party PMP has proposed to postpone public sector wage hikes for a year, saying the economy needs solutions, not political instability.

Party executive president Valeriu Steriu said the party seeks to postpone wage hikes to ensure sustainability for the country's economy next year.

Romania Ranks First In CEE In PwC "Paying Taxes 2018" Global Ranking

Romania climbed eight spots and ranks 42nd in PWC’s global ranking "Paying Taxes 2018", which measures the “ease of paying taxes” for companies in 190 economies around the world.

This is Romania's best ranking so far and its score places it first in Central and Eastern Europe, excepting Baltic countries.

The total tax rate, which measures the amount of taxes and mandatory contributions to be paid by a company as a percentage of its profit, stood at 38.4% this year in Romania, below the EU average (39.6%) and the global average (40.5%).

In terms of time to comply with fiscal legislation, Romania is among the top CEE countries, with 163 hours/year, compared with the EU average of 161 hours/year.

An average-sized company in Romania should make 14 tax payments a year, compared with a global average of 24 payments and an EU average of 12 payments.

The Paying Taxes study measures the “ease of paying taxes” for an average sized company, including corporate income taxes, employment taxes and mandatory contributions, property taxes, turnover taxes, property transfer taxes, road taxes, environmental taxes and other small taxes and a variety of smaller payments such as municipal taxes.

Airbus, Rolls-Royce, Siemens Plan To Build Hybrid Airplane

Airbus, Siemens, and Rolls-Royce are teaming up to develop a hybrid passenger plane that would use a single electric turbofan along with three conventional jet engines running on aviation fuel.

The plane is an effort to develop and demonstrate technology that in the future could help limit emissions of carbon dioxide from aviation and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

The three companies said Tuesday they aim to build a flying version of the E-Fan X technology demonstrator plane by 2020.