Romania

AGERPRES special correspondent Madalina Cerban reports: President Klaus Iohannis said in Brussels, that "after certain disruptions", the preparations for Romania's taking over the presidency of the Council of the European Union are "in an advanced stage".

In 2018, 26% of EU enterprises with at least 10 persons employed purchased cloud computing services. Cloud computing usage grew rapidly over the last few years, as in 2014 it stood at 19% and in 2016 at 21%. Large enterprises use cloud computing much more (56% of enterprises employing 250 persons or more) than small ones (23% of enterprises employing 10 to 49 persons).

Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) is a measure of material welfare of households. Across the Member States in 2017, AIC per capita expressed in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) varied from 54% of the European Union (EU) average in Bulgaria to 132% in Luxembourg.

The Romanian economy continues to perform in the third quarter of this year, with the economic growth being by 1.9pct higher than in the second quarter of 2018, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said on Thursday in the opening of the Government's meeting.

About 62% of young Bulgarians in the 15-29 age group, or nearly two-thirds of the younger generation in Bulgaria, live in overcrowded housing conditions, according to data from Eurostat's analysis of housing conditions in EU countries in 2017

Bulgaria's Ministry of Culture will join the European Network for Literature and Books Traduki. The Ministry of Culture will sign an annex to the project's framework agreement for the period January 1, 2019- December 31, 2020, writes the Bulgarian National Radio. 

A bid by Balkan countries to host the 2030 soccer World Cup would have a realistic chance because the governments of Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Romania would offer support for the joint candidature, Bulgaria's Sports Minister Krasen Kralev said on Wednesday, reports Reuters. 

The priorities of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the regional cooperation and the economic interconnection projects were among the topics tackled by Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu during his meeting on Wednesday in Bucharest with representatives of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the National Assemblies of Bulgaria and Serbia.

The priorities of Romania's Presidency of the Council of the European Union are organized on four pillars: Europe of convergence, Europe of safety, Europe - global actor and Europe of common values, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said on Wednesday.

She pointed out that the first pillar - Europe of convergence - is based on "growth, cohesion, competitiveness, connectivity".

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila declared on Wednesday that Romania's motto at the Presidency of the Council of the European Union will be "Cohesion, a common European value".