Cosmopublic.eu | Volkswagen `Dieselgate` Provokes Earthquake

http://cosmopublic.eu/report/volkswagen-dieselgate-provokes-earthquake-while-pm-ponta-survives-censure-motion
Volkswagen 'Dieselgate' Provokes Earthquake While PM Ponta Survives Censure Motion
Romania, 13 Sep - 10 Oct 2015
VW emissions scandal – a silent earthquake for common Romanians ++ Liberals' censure motion rejected – PM Ponta
“I won’t leave office” ++ The new academic year starts – another game of chess between numbers and performance.
by Flavian-Catalin Pah
VW emissions scandal – a silent earthquake for common Romanians
For years it was the dream of every Romanian to buy a German car. However, following the current scandal surrounding
manipulated emission data, the Volkswagen myth seems to have come to an end. According to official statistics, more than
105,000 cars will be investigated to determine if the allegations against VW in one of the biggest scandals in the history of the
automotive industry are true. For the time being, Romanians who bought a Volkswagen in the last months cannot register or
sell their cars.
After Minister of Environment Gratiela Gavrilescu claimes that Romanians who have bought German cars this year were
“fooled” with a software that was supposed to skew CO2 emissions in tests, Romanian authorities no longer certify Volkswagen
cars – a measure that resulted in a small earthquake among owners.
This is a silent “tremblement de terre” for small family businesses. As in most cases, the situation in Romania is a bit different
than in other European countries. After 2007, when Romania joined the EU, thousands of citizens started to gain money by
buying cars in Western European countries and selling them all over the country, making profits of somewhere in between 500
and 1,500 euros per car. One of the most important markets for this kind of transaction was Germany. Demand for prestigious
German brands such as Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMW and Audi was high. Today, there are more than 100,000 cars that might
make the object of European and national investigations. In other words, more than 100,000 cars which have been brought into
the country by citizens who make a living from this activity and who expected to gain profits might lose their value overnight.
On the other hand, Romanian officials tried to calm down the situation when they announced that owners should not be worried
by recent events, because the actions of national authorities target the manufacturer and official dealers and not average
customers, who could not have known about the technical trickery.
What is sure is that German automotive manufacturers are on the edge of losing their position on a Romanian market
previously dominated by Volkswagen.
Liberals' censure motion rejected – PM Ponta „I won’t leave office”
The joint session of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, the upper and the lower house in Romania's bicameral
parliament, debated last week the forth censure motion against Prime Minister Victor Ponta's (Social Democratic Party, PSD)
government. The so called ‘Choose between Romania and Ponta, a compromised premier. Dismiss Victor Ponta!’ motion initiated by the liberal party PNL (National Liberal Party) - was rejected, although 207 members of parliament voted in favour of
it. The MPs of the governing coalition parties PSD, UNPR (National Union for the Progress of Romania) and ALDE (Alliance of
Liberals and Democrats) that hold the majority in parliament did not cast their votes.
Meanwhile, about 5,000 people were protesting in Izvor Park in Bucharest, during a demonstration organised by the Liberals.
The initiators had expected 15,000 protestors. Just before the session, PSD interim leader Liviu Dragnea stated: “I don’t believe
the Liberals expect from us to bring MPs to vote for the censure motion, as they don’t expect us to bring people to the protest
outside.”
In the run-up to the motion, President Klaus Iohannis said that if the censure motion passes, thus, leading to the fall of the
government, that would be “a good thing.” “As President of Romania, I’m not involved in the censure motion, nor in the way
parties negotiate it. Certainly the approval of the censure motion would be a good outcome,” the head of state explained.
Iohannis has been calling Ponta to resign from office since the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) opened a criminal
investigation against Ponta in June, alleging forgery, complicity in tax evasion and money laundering allegedly committed while
he was working as a lawyer; and a conflict of interest for naming former business associate Dan ■ova to several positions while
serving as prime minister.
PM Ponta called the censure motion a failure for the National Liberal Party (PNL) and said the Liberals were not capable of
governing the country. “I’ve decided to pull myself as much as possible out of all these useless dishonourable political battles
and I’m willing not only to use all my energy for governing, but also to explain what I have done as prime minister alongside my
governmental team and next to the ruling coalition. In brief: let's get down to work because there are a lot of issues that need to
be taken care of” the prime minister added. According to the constitution, the opposition can file another censure motion in
February 2016.
The new academic year starts – another game of chess between numbers and performance
The academic year started on October 1st with statistics related to the student registrations in Romania, but also with the
authorities’ promise to take new measures to keep up with the challenges the academic system.
At the opening ceremony of the academic year at the Polytechnic University in Bucharest, Minister of Education Sorin
Campeanu revealed that the number of students has gone down by 50 percent. Only universities with a technical focus had
been able to maintain and even increase student numbers . For instance, the Bucharest Polytechnic University’s numer of
students increased from 25,000 in 2010 to 28,000 this year, Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj and Ioan-Alexandru Cuza
University of Iasi being among the ones who registered a bigger number of students than in previous years.
For years, Romanian authorities tried to implement a strategy with two main directions: one was to enhance performance at
universities and the other to encourage young graduates not to leave the country. Till now, everything looks very much like a
game of chess played between the Ministry of Education and students who need an environment which guaranteeing university
performance and a certain stability after graduation.
Source: Bernd Kasper | pixelio.de
Source: Partidul Social Democrat | CC BY 2.0
Victor Ponta, Prime Minister of Romania
Source: Dennis Jarvis | CC BY-SA 2.0
Central University Library of Bucharest