Since more and more Romanians are fighting for their rights in European Courts, after losing any hope in the black hole called ‘Romanian Justice’, I think these links might be useful:

European Court of Human Rights - ECHU (CEDO - for Romanians).

Good luck!

Note: at this hour, Gabriel Stefanescu, who recently won a trial at ECHR, is invited at Victor Ciutacu’s talk show. (Who knows, maybe this is the way to recover the money for the “lost” Romanian fleet :D)

(N.B. ECHR is not an EU institution, it belongs to the Council of Europe - international organization, independent of EU)

Not only in Romania are the readers comparing the ‘traditional’ media with the blogosphere. In his interview for EurActiv, Joël de Rosnay, author of “The Pronetarian Revolution”, is talking about the road “from mass media to media of the masses”:

Another reason behind the mass media crisis is of course the increasing success of Internet and especially the creation of information by internet-users themselves. The blog phenomenon, interactive websites, P2P and personal diaries have contributed to flooding the Net with quality information that is extremely diverse but often original, giving a new angle to the news.

Media of the masses carry more nuances than classical media. Citizens recognise themselves in the multitude of diverse expressions, relayed by blogs inter-connected by RSS, a surprising amplification system. The “buzz” between internet-users can make opinions move, much more than traditional political campaigns using the big classical media.

We can easily recognize the same discussions that took place these days between some Romanian bloggers and the journalists.

“Stop early retirement schemes, reduce unemployment, stimulate part-time employment. Keep them in the job, get them in the job, in every way possible,”

This is what Peer Ederer says in the second volume of the “European Human Capital Index”, that focuses on Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey.

It’s a very interesting and documented analysis regarding the human capital in the region. Including in Romania, where politicians like to say that the human capital is the strongest and the most valuable resourse of our country. A(nother) waisted resource, as you can see.

Among other things, the report strongly criticises Eastern European governments for not investing in people older than 45 years – about one-third of the population, with 20 ore more productive years ahead - thereby creating a “lost generation”. Another one.

The report also presents the demographic situation and the quality of the education systems in the region .
Let’s not forget that an important economic goal of the European Union is to become a knowledge-based economy.
In every aspects, the former communist states, now EU members, should not only to catch up with Western Europe, but also to start compete with them. A goal that may never be reached.

Romania (although one of the biggest state) is somewhere in the middle in the index’ ranking of the region.

The countries that trail the index’ ranking – Slovakia, Bulgaria and Poland – are likely to remain stuck in relative poverty for a very long time when compared to the EU average.

At the other pole, the optimistic one, are: Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Lithuania – they might still have a small chance of achieving Western standards of living within the next twenty years.

So, Romania will achieve Western living standard sometime right in between of 20 years and…never. Bad news, very bad news.

Only Turkey, not yet EU member, is the only country with a young and growing population, that might be able to respond to the Europe’s human capital needs. The report states that by 2050, an estimated 19% of the European working population will be Turkish.

..speaking of Mr. Adrian Severin…

Dear fellow Romanians, you can find out here who are the MEPs that represent you, monitor how many times do they open their mouth and what did they say (or if they ever spoke a word) and other interesting staff. So, at the near to come European election you will think twice whether or not you’ll send them back.

Ministerul Integrarii Europene a facut o lista cu greselile cel mai des intalnite in dosarele depuse de cei care solicita finantari nerambursabile, plus cateva indicatii privind evitarea acestor erori:

1. Solicitant si /sau partener neeligibil
2. Neconformitate administrativa
3. Proiect neeligibil
4. Activitati neeligibile
5. Bugetul solicitat nu se încadreaza în limitele finantarilor nerambursabile si ale procentajului de co-finantare a proiectului
6. Grupuri tinta neeligibile
7. Durata incorecta a proiectului
8. Supraestimarea costurilor eligibile
9. Incompatibilitate între buget si metodologie
10. Greseli de aritmetica în calculul bugetului
11. Documentatie însotitoare incompleta
12. Cereri scrise de mâna
13. Nerespectarea Ghidului Solicitantului

Acum cateva zile, Comisia de cultura din Parlamentul European a adoptat un raport numit “i2010: Easy access to European cultural heritage”. Initial se va asigura accesul pentru opere literare dinainte de 1920, asupra carora nu se exercita drepturi de autor, urmand ca ulterior sa se gaseasca solutii de finantare.

Va recomand o carte “Enciclopedia Uniunii Europene - editia a III-a, 2007″, Autor: Luciana-Alexandra Ghica, de la Editura Meronia.
Eu am citit varianta 2005 si pot spune ca este destul de bine structurata si reprezinta o baza foarte buna pentru cei care vor sa inteleaga mecanismele institutiilor europene. M-am bucurat sa aflu ca a aparut si varianta actualizata.

Odata cu inceperea noului ‘cincinal’ (de fapt, sunt sapte ani: 2007-2013, si bine ar fi fost daca si autoritatile noastre ar fi avut planuri strategice clare pe aceeasi perioada), Uniunea Europeana a decis si aplicarea unui nou set de reguli de accesare a fondurilor europene, reguli care vor furniza solutii mai practice si mai simple celor care lucreaza cu astfel de fonduri, precum si un control mai eficient al utilizarii lor.
Gasiti aceste reguli destul de bine explicate aici (dati click) iar tipurile de fonduri sunt detaliate pe domenii si politici UE pe site-ul Comisiei Europene. .

Voi mai reveni cu detalii privind fondurile europene, cu alta ocazie.