Press Review - May 9, 2017

05.09.2017 By Oana Gavrila

Government Seeks To Cap Child Rearing Benefits To Stay Within Deficit Limit

The Romanian government is having trouble staying below the 3% of GDP deficit cap following recent salary and pension raises, despite its projected annual economic growth of 5.6% until 2020.

In the 2017-2020 convergence program it adopted Friday, the government lists raising excise duties on cigarettes, freezing high pensions and capping child rearing benefits.

It's been less than a year since child rearing benefits were set at 85% of the parent's income and now the government wants to cap these benefits at RON5,000 to RON10,000.

PM Dismisses General Customs Chief Dorel Fronea

Prime minister Sorin Grineanu has dismissed tax authority vice-president Dorel Fronea, who has so far coordinated the general customs division.

Fronea's attributions have been  temporarily taken over by the head of the general anti-fraud division, Marin-Marius Florea.

The decision was published in the Official Journal Monday evening.

USR Challenges Constitutionality of Bill Eliminating Conflict of Interest

USR president Nicusor Dan said the party's lawmakers have notified the Constitutional Court on a bill that eliminates conflicts of interests for public officials.

He said the notification was also supported by a few liberal lawmakers.

“If this law passes, if someone becomes mayor and awards a public contract to a former employee, it wouldn't be considered a conflict of interest,” said Dan.

Romanian Air Traffic Controllers on Two-Hour Strike Friday

Romanian air traffic controllers plan to trigger a two-hour warning strike on Friday over unmet demands regarding work conditions.

The union said Monday the strike will take place between 11 am and 1 pm, during which time a third of normal activity will be ensured.

Romania Lags Behind in Reporting Medication Side Effects

Romania is at the low end of the European ranking in reporting side effects to medication, according to the National Medicines Agency, even though the number of Romanian patients  experiencing side effects doubled in 2016 compared with 2015.

"We're very bad at reporting side effects compared to other European countries that get tens of thousands of reports annually. We're not exactly last but we have a long way to go to involve everyone and becoming aware of any side effect,” said Nicolae Fotin, head of the National Medicines Agency.

“The reporting of side effects doubled in 2016. Reports from patients outnumbered reports from pharmacists, so patients are more active when it comes to reporting. We use this reported information for scientific evaluations, not to take measures against professionals. We often get reports calling for punishments of professionals,” said dr. Roxana Stroe, head of the agency's pharma vigilance service.