Venice Commission: Constitution Revision Draft Needs Further Improvements
The Venice Commission decided that the draft law on revising the Romanian Constitution requires several improvements on key issues, such as the choosing of a form of government and clearing up the competence of the PM and the President.
The Venice Commission approved the draft law on revising the Romanian constitution, but made several recommendations, such as: to clearly choose a form of government; to clear up the President’s and PM’s prerogatives; to introduce, among the founding principles of the Romanian constitutional system, the principle of mutual respect and loyal cooperation between powers; to simplify the legislative procedure and restrict to the minimum the necessity of government ordinances. (Romania Libera)
DIY Retailer Obi To Leave Romania
German DIY retailer Obi is preparing a withdrawal from the Romanian market this year after registering losses each year starting 2008, when it opened its first Romanian store, people close to the matter told MEDIAFAX.
“Lower consumption and a drop in construction activity has dwindled sales of home improvement retailers. For this reason, retailer Obi is preparing to leave the Romanian market this year,” the sources said.
Obi’s withdrawal would be a new major move on the local DIY market after Kingfisher bought the 15 Bricostore units from France’s Bresson in April 2013 and German group Praktiker announced this year it is selling its 27 Romanian stores to Search Chemicals, owned by Turkish businessman Omer Susli. (Adevarul)
Romania Antitrust Chief Says Interbank Fees Too High
The Romanian antitrust chief says interbank fees are too high and the authorities are likely to cap these payments before the adoption of an EU-wide regulation at the end of 2014.
“Interbank fees for card payments in Romania, as well as in other states, are high and they do not reflect the costs. The European Parliament is expected to regulate the level of these payments by the end of the year,” Bogdan Chiritoiu said Tuesday.
Speaking at “Mediafax Talks about Digital Europe” conference organized by Mediafax, Chiritoiu said Romanian lawmakers are likely to lower the interchange fees by the second half of 2014. Romania would be the third EU member to cap card fees, after Poland and Hungary. (Jurnalul National)
Chamber Of Deputies Tacitly Approves Draft Law On STS Reorganization
The draft law on the reorganization of the Romanian special telecommunication service STS as special telecommunications department in the Interior Ministry was tacitly approved by the Chamber of Deputies.
The draft law was tacitly approved as the deadline for debates, namely March 20, 2014, was exceeded.
Leader of PDL deputies, Gheorghe Tinel, criticized the tacit approval of the draft law, saying that “it is a very important draft law, so that no artifice should have been used to elude the debates.” (Evenimentul Zilei)
Prosecutors Ask STS To Declassify 112 Calls Related To Medical Aircraft Crash
Prosecutors asked the Romanian special telecommunication service STS to declassify the 112 calls related to the medical airplane crash in the Romanian Apuseni mountains, aalso requesting details on the techniques used to locate the callers of 112 emergency number.
Thus, Romanian telecom market regulator ANCOM should provide investigators with details regarding the techniques used by telecom service providers to assure the takeover of calls on emergency number 112 and to facilitate the location of calls. (Jurnalul National)