Romania to benefit from higher European funds in 2014-2020

Romania will be one of the countries to benefit from higher European funds from the European Union budget for the period between 2014 and 2020, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Ciolos told a press conference on Wednesday.

'Romania must prove they need these funds and are able to make good use of them. The agriculture will play a major role within the next budget with a 371.7 billion euros amount, to which 15.2 billion euros are added as financial availability related to the common agriculture policy,' Ciolos said.

According to the official, the European budget for 2014-2020 will represent 1.05 percent of the European Union GDP and focuses on certain European priorities.

'The European budget is not similar to the national budgets. The European budget is made over seven years and focuses on certain European priorities. The budget on 2014 to 2020 is 1.025 billion euros representing 1.05 percent of the European Union GDP. A budget 95 percent of which will return to the member states by funded projects,' Ciolos explained.

Romania should plan an agriculture strategy for at least 25 years - rural development romania 2014 -2020

Secretary of state with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Achim Irimescu, responsible with the technical directions within the European Union, says in an interview granted to Agerpres that Romania should have a strategy for agriculture to span at least 25 years from now on, where several major points should be set.

Achim Irimescu added that the Ministry of Agriculture will hold a tender offer by this autumn to appoint some consultancy companies to conduct analyses to find out the stage of agriculture in Romania at the moment, and which should recommend which should be the priorities for 2014-2020, considering the new National Rural Development Programme.

Among the major themes to be approached there are land amassing, creating branches to get rid of intermediaries and price gouging, an analysis of the Romanian and the EU markets, measures taken to support certain crops and certain guidelines in animal husbandry, to align to the demands of the international market, exports planning, large-scale development of honey and honey bee products, supporting the youth to resort to agriculture, collecting some measures which the ministry should present to the European Commission, amassing the agriculture-related agencies, the large-scale development of agri-tourism, the development and the update of the rural infrastructure, of the rural services, the rebirth of the traditional crafts (genuine crafted items, crack willow furniture, etc), the update and supporting financing through banks and other institutions of rural credit, the association and creation of farmers co-ops.

26 june 2012

KOMMUNALWAHLEN RUMANIEN 2012

 

Die ersten offiziellen Teilergebnisse der Kommunalwahlen am Sonntag zeigen, dass die meisten Stimmen für Kreisräte und Kreisratspräsidenten für die Union der Sozial-Liberalen (USL) abgegeben wurden (52%). Für die Demokrat-Liberalen (PDL) haben etwa 13% gestimmt, für die Volkspartei von Dan Diaconescu (PP-DD) 7%. Was die Lokalräte betrifft liegt USL mit 42,7% vorne, gefolgt von der PDL 15,78% und PSD (allein) mit 7,67%. Auch die meisten Bürgermeister stammen aus der USL (53,27%), PDL hat 15,8% und PSD alleine 9,93% der Stimmen erhalten. PSD erscheint auch alleine, da die Union (USL) nur in den Kreishauptstädten und in Bukarest gemeinsame Kandidaten aufgestellt hatte, in den anderen Ortschaften haben sich PSD, PNL und PC (die drei Parteien, die die Union bilden) alleine zur Wahl gestellt.

 

BUCUREŞTI / BUKAREST

Ersten Hochrechnungen zufolge hat sich der Parteilose Kandidat Sorin Oprescu mit 56,67% der Stimmen ein zweites Mandat als Oberbürgermeister von Bukarest gesichert. Oprescu wird von der USL (Union der Sozial-Liberalen) unterstützt. Auf Platz 2 befindet sich Silviu Prigoana mit 15,67% der Stimmen, gefolgt von Nicusor Dan (parteilos) mit 9,17%.

 

Fünf der sechs Bezirksbürgermeister kommen aus der USL:

Im Bezirk 1 wurde Andrei Chiliman (PNL) mit 74,52% Stimmen wiedergewählt, im Bezirk 2 bleibt Bürgermeister Neculai Onţanu (Nationale Union für den Fortschritt Rumäniens - UNPR) im Amt (49,01% der Stimmen). Im Bezirk 3 gibt es einen Wechsel: der amtierende Bürgermeister Liviu Negoiţă von der Demokratisch-Liberalen Partei (PDL) wurde von seinem Bruder Robert Negoita (PSD) besiegt (58,51% der Stimmen). Bezirk 4 wird auch die nächsten 4 Jahre von Cristian Popescu Piedone (PC) geleitet, der 80,08% der Stimmen erhielt. Für den Bezirk 5 bleibt Marian Vanghelie von den Sozial-Demokraten (56,02%) im Amt. Bezirk 6 hat einen neuen Bürgermeister: Rares Manescu (PNL) erhielt 50,61% der Wahlstimmen.

 

Der Lokalrat wird von folgenden Parteien gebildet: USL 54,15%, PDL - 16,3%, PP-DD, 10,83%.

44,25% der Bukarester haben ihr Wahlrecht ausgeübt.

 

CLUJ / KLAUSENBURG

In Cluj findet ein Kopf an Kopf rennen statt zwischen Marius Nicoara (PNL) und Emil Bob (PDL). Laut Exit-Poll Antena 3 hat Nicoara 43,1% der Stimmen und Boc 40% erhalten. Realitatea TV schätzt 41% für beide Kandidaten. Der frühere Regierungschef Emil Boc hatte das Bürgermeisteramt bereits zwischen 2004 und 2008 inne.

 

TIMIŞOARA / TEMESWAR

Laut Hochrechnungen IRES(DIGI 24): hat Nicolae Robu (PNL) über 50% der Stimmen erhalten. Der amtierende Bürgermeister Gheorghe Ciuhandu (PNTCD – Bauernpartei) hat sich nicht mehr zur Wahl gestellt. Kreisratvorsitzender wird Titu Bojin (PSD).

ARAD

Der amtierende Bürgermeister Gheorghe Falca (PDL + PER) hat ein drittes Mandat gewonnen mit 43,45% der abgegebenen Stimmen, laut Teilergebnissen.

 

SIBIU / HERMANNSTADT

Der amtierende Bürgermeister Klaus Johannis (Demokratisches Forum der Deutschen in Rumänien) wurde mit 77,9% der Stimmen wiedergewählt. Es ist dies sein viertes Mandat. Kreisratvorsitzender soll nach aller Wahrscheinlichkeit Ion Cindrea (PSD) werden, der laut Teilergebnissen 49,94% der Stimmen erhalten hat und somit Martin Bottesch besiegt.

IAŞI / JASSY

Der Kandidat der PSD, Gheorghe Nichita, hat sich noch ein Mandat gesichert mit 65,8% der Stimmen laut CCSB (Antena3). Kreisratvorsitzender soll Cristian Adomnitei (PNL) werden.

 

CONSTANŢA

Der amtierende Bürgermeister, Radu Mazare (PSD), ist bereits Sieger mit über 60% der Stimmen. Der Kreisrat wird ebenfalls von einem PSD-Mitglied geleitet, Nicusor Constantinescu.

 

CRAIOVA

Lia Olguta Vasilescu (USL) erhält 45,5% der Stimmen und wird somit neue Bürgermeisterin der Stadt.

Die Wahlbeteiligung landesweit lag bei 56,39%.

Source hotnews.ro 

 

Changes in several Ministry of Finance orders regarding VAT

An Order ("the Order") has been published amending some rules regarding the cases of application of VAT exemption provided by the Fiscal Code, as well as new rules for VAT registration for newly established companies. The Order amends previous orders related to VAT exemption and registration. The first amendment clarifies that the VAT exemption for supply of goods / services related to ship construction may be applicable in some specific situations provided by the law. Another amendment stipulates that in order to apply the VAT exemption for supply of goods and services performed in the benefit of NATO member forces, a letter must be obtained from the National Defence Ministry confirming that those forces are participating in a common defence activity in Romania. Finally, from 23 April 2012, in the event of registration for VAT purposes the clearance certificate is mandatory for all shareholders regardless of the shareholding percentage.

The Future of the Common Agricultural Policy in Romania 2014 - 2020

Between 2014 and 2020, over 386 million euros will be allocated for supporting agriculture in the European Union. As announced by the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Romania’s Dacian Ciolos, the Common Agricultural Policy remains the main beneficiary of the EU budget, valued at 1025 billion euros. The EU strategy for the 7-year period is mainly aimed at boosting the economy once again through the development of research and innovation, investment in green energy, the acquisition of organic products, guaranteeing food safety, as well as the creation of new jobs.

One new feature is that the budget bill addresses a series of key principles, the first and foremost being that the European Commission will focus on obtaining actual results, rather than absorbing as much money from community funds as possible. The second principle is that of conditionality, meaning that money will be allocated on the basis of commitments made by member states for obtaining stable results. The rules will be simpler, clearer and more transparent, resulting in reduced bureaucracy. Another principle is that of flexibility, meaning funds will be more easily transferable from one budget line to another, depending on priorities.

The EU’s budget bill will, for the first time, allocate funds for agricultural research, will finance consortia and collaborations between laboratories and research centers, agricultural producers and professional associations, as well as structures dealing with professional organization and consultancy. 3.5 billion euros in total, meaning an average of 500 million euros per year, will be allocated for crisis situations on the food market. These include scenarios like those caused by the bird flu, E-coli or dioxin contamination. The future CAP will bring Romanian farmers even bigger subsidies, Dacian Ciolos assures.

The European commissioner says that at community level, a harmonization of these subsidies is required, given the currently large discrepancies between sums allocated to different countries: “The Commission will propose increasing subsidies for farmers in Romania and other countries currently benefiting from amounts of money far below the community average. We are unlikely to see subsidies brought to the same level for all countries, as this would be hard to justify. Production conditions vary from one country to another and even from one region to another, so the system we are going to propose will even allow for differentiation of subsidies between different regions of the same member country.”

While long-standing members of the Eu are granted subventions following a historical criterion, receiving a fixed amount of money each year, new members are subject to new conditions, until they catch up with the more developed nations. There are currently two ways of allocating subsidies as part of the CAP. At present, the European average per land area unit is 260 euros.

Florin Marius Faur, head of the Agency for Payments and Interventions in Agriculture, told us more: “Romania still has limited experience in the area of European subsidies. Romanian farmers only began to benefit from payments per land area unit in 2007. Initially, 50 euros per unit were allocated for Romanian farmers, and that sum has so far grown to nearly 100 euros. Through the new CAP, between 2014 and 2020, the subsidy could be increased to over 200 euros per unit, bringing Romanian farmers much closer to those in older EU member countries. We have 900 million euros allocated for this year, and we’ll have 1.1 billion next year. This money comes from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund and is made available exclusively for payments per land area unit.”

One issue in Romanian agriculture continues to be the widespread fragmentation of plots of land. Over one million Romanian farmers are currently benefiting from payments per land area unit, of which some 900 thousand own between 1 and 5 hectares of land. That is why, in order to merge plots of land, the Romanian authorities will grant between 30 and 100 euros per hectare annually to owners aged over 55 who lease their plots for periods of 5 to 15 years. Those who sell their plots under these conditions will receive 200 euros per hectare, according to the law. The authorities in Bucharest believe that merging plots will make agriculture more productive.

Dacian Ciolos: “For certain member states, including Romania, the sums received for investing in modernizing agriculture are, to my mind, just as important as the subsidies received. Because, if we were to heavily increase subsidies for Romanian farmers, and if we were to provide almost none of the 40-60% co-financing funds for purchasing equipment, building processing plants, or helping young farmers and so on, then I think that Romanian farmers would face tough competition against other parts of the EU where these investments have already been made.”

In the new CAP there is increasing talk about concepts like environmentally friendly agriculture, and according to specialists, Romanian farmers fall into this category. The European Commission is going to present the legislative package on the 2014-2020 Common Agricultural Policy on 12th October 2011, and it will then be discussed by the European Council and the European Parliament. The new CAP should enter into force on the 01 January 2014.

CERERE UNICĂ DE PLATĂ PE SUPRAFAŢĂ 2012

Fermierii vor primi mai mulţi bani drept subvenţii pentru culturile vegetale, iar pentru crescătorii dce animale se anunţă noi programe de finanţare. Ministrul Agriculturii, Valeriu Tabără, spune că din octombrie se vor da bani şi în avans.

În sectorul vegetal, subvenţia pe suprafaţă va creşte de la 131 de euro/hectar la 190 de euro/hectar, iar de această creştere vor beneficia 1,2 milioane de fermieri, a declarat ministrul Agriculturii, Valeriu Tabără, într-o conferinţă în care şi-a prezentat activitatea la împlinirea unui an de mandat. „Din 16 octombrie până în primele zile ale lunii decembrie se va acorda un avans la subvenţie, în valoare de 43 de euro/hectar, şi sperăm ca până la 15 martie 2012 toate plăţile să fie încheiate“, a arătat ministrul. Cât priveşte subvenţiile pentru motorină, Tabără a arătat că a fost sprijinită astfel achiziţia a 247 milioane de litri, de cdare au beneficiat 9.000 de fermieri.

Toţi banii sunt pregătiţi În sectorul zootehnic, se dau subvenţii de 40 de lei/cdap pentru oi şi capre şi de 410 lei/cap pentru bovine. „Pentru fiecare tip de subvenţie sunt pregătiţi banii necesari“, a precizat Tabără. El a mai anunţat că săptămâna viitoare va discuta, la Bruxelles, demararea unui „sistem special de creditare pentru agricultorii din sectorul privat, din fonduri ale Programului Naţional de Dezvoltare Rurală, care va semăna cu ceea ce a fost programul «Fermierul»“.

Local elections set for June 10 this year in Romania

Romania will organize local elections on June 10 this year, according to Mediafax, quoting official sources. Last year, Emil Boc’s pre-protest Government, assumed responsibility in the Parliament for organizing joint local and Parliamentary elections. The country’s Constitutional Court however ruled that joint elections would be unlawful.