Basescu Warns Romania Risks Isolation Over Endangered Rule Of Law
Romanian President Traian Basescu said U.S. Envoy Victoria Nuland sent out a very serious message regarding the rule of law in Romania, which has been under constant threat since 2012.
“We are one step over the edge of the precipice. If the political majority persists in attacking the rule of law, Romania risks isolation for a long time,” Basescu warned in a televised speech Tuesday. (Evenimentul Zilei)
EU Drafts Fracking Guidelines to Clarify Conflicting Laws
The European Union plans guidelines for shale drilling under proposals that may facilitate oil and gas extraction using the contested technique that’s brought the U.S. toward energy independence, Bloomberg reported.
The 28 member governments will be urged to follow the non-binding principles so that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is done safely and without confusion over conflicting environmental regulations among states and the bloc, according to draft recommendations seen by Bloomberg News. The guidelines wouldn’t interfere with a nation’s right to ban the practice.
The proposal will be part of a package of documents on future energy and climate policies to be considered by EU governments. (Romania Libera)
Romania Raises $2B In Two-Part Dollar Bond Issue
Romania’s Finance Ministry sold a planned $2 billion of 10 and 30 years US dollar-denominated notes at a dual-tranche bond issue in international markets Tuesday.
This was the country’s first international bond issue in 2014.
The average yields were in the 5% area for the 10-year bonds and in the 6.23% area for the 30-year notes, according to a report from Reuters news agency. (Jurnalul National)
France Expelled Nearly 20,000 Roma In 2013
France expelled nearly 20,000 Roma from camps in 2013, double compared to 2012, according to a report of the Human Rights League and the European Center for Human Rights.
The report states French authorities tore down 165 camps out of 400 registered in France in 2013, expelling 19,380 people, compared to 9,404 people in 2012, when 97 camps were torn down.
There are around 17,000 Roma, mainly from Romania and Bulgaria, living in illegal camps in France. (Romania Libera)
Medicines Agency Advises Caution In Prescribing Osteoporosis Medicine
The Romanian Medicines Agency advises doctors to be cautious in prescribing certain products to treat osteoporosis after the European agency warned they increased the risk of cardiac illness.
The European Medicines Agency’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) has recommended that strontium ranelate (Protelos/Osseor, Servier) no longer be used to treat osteoporosis.
The PRAC recommendation will now be sent to the Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use which is expected to issue the Agency’s final opinion at its meeting on January 20 to 23, 2014. (Jurnalul National)