Romania

[RO] Modification of the Cinematography Law rejected

IRIS 2017-8:1/32

Eugen Cojocariu

Radio Romania International

The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, promulgated on 16 June 2017 Law no. 141/2017 on the rejection of Government Emergency Decree no. 91/2016 on the modification and completion of Government Decree no. 39/2005 on Cinematography, as well as the setting-up of measures in the field of cinema. Law no. 141/2017 was published in the Official Journal of Romania no. 461/20.06.2017 (see IRIS 2002-7/30, IRIS 2003-2/23, and IRIS 2016-10/23, EMR Newsletter no. 4/2017).

On 20 February 2017 the Senate (the upper house of the Romanian Parliament) tacitly adopted a draft law for the approval of Government Emergency Decree no. 91/2016, but on 23 May 2017 the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house) adopted, with a large majority, a contradictory draft law rejecting the Decree. The decision of the deputies was final.

Government Emergency Decree no. 91/2016 aimed, according to its initiators, at securing the functioning of a more dynamic film production sector and ensuring access to Romanian and European films.

At the beginning of June 2017, more than 450 well-known Romanian film directors, actors, critics, producers, and film industry professionals (such as Lucian Pintilie, Stere Gulea, Victor Rebengiuc, Ana Ularu, Ada Solomon, Tudor Giurgiu, Radu Jude, Călin Netzer, Levente Molnar, Andi Vasluianu, Emilian Oprea, Dorina Chiriac, Marius Manole and Daniela Nane) asked President Klaus Iohannis not to promulgate the law rejecting Government Emergency Decree no. 91/2016 and to resubmit the Decree for debate in Parliament. They called for a real debate with representatives of the sector concerned by the draft law. They argued that the Decree had been tacitly approved by the Senate and then rejected by the Chamber of Deputies without being publicly debated, without the cinema guild being been consulted and without the Ministry of Culture being given the possibility to justify its opinion.