The new Romanian prime minister travels to Brussels
On his first trip to Brussels after taking office, the Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Tudose had a busy agenda.
Florentin Căpitănescu, 12.07.2017, 12:32
It’s not by chance that Romania’s new leftist Prime Minister Mihai Tudose travelled to Brussels for his first foreign trip. Given the political instability that preceded the installation of his cabinet, Tudose gave assurances during talks with European officials that Romania remains a reliable partner that will rigorously fulfil its commitments. He met the presidents of the European Council and of the European Commission, Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker respectively, the head of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani and the Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu. Talks focused on the latest economic developments and the Schengen accession, the state of the judiciary and the absorption of European funds. This final subject was particularly sensitive, given that since its entry into the European Union in 2007, Romania has not excelled in this area. Prime minister Mihai Tudose: “The good news is that a sum of 600 million euros has been unblocked this week through the famous managing authorities, and funds are beginning to be validated. It’s a first good sign.”
The prime minister said he was seeking better collaboration between his ministers and the European officials as far as community funding is concerned: “All ministers involved in European projects are to travel to Brussels at least once a month to discuss with the Commissioners; there will be regular contacts with the Council and the Commission to make sure that what we do in Romania does not reach Brussels in a distorted way and that there are no major discrepancies between reality and perception.”
Speaking about the economy, Tudose said Romania’s budget deficit would not exceed 3% of the GDP and that his government was no longer planning to introduce the controversial turnover tax. As for Romania’s accession to the Schengen area, he said this was technically possible, provided the political and economic issue is solved.
Mihai Tudose: “On the subject of the Schengen accession, my interlocutors agreed that, from a technical point of view, things are almost if not completely in place, the only problems that still exist being a matter of politics and competition, because things have moved more in the direction of the economic area. We are confident, however, that we will overcome this moment.”
The Cooperation and Verification Mechanism used by Brussels to monitor the situation of the judiciary ever since Romania entered the European Union was another important subject discussed by Prime Minister Tudose in Brussels. The president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said the Mechanism must be lifted by 2019, when Romania is to take over the EU rotating presidency, if the judiciary stays on its current course. Mihai Tudose has given assurances that his government will not adopt measures that have not been previously discussed with civil society, passed by Parliament and communicated to Romania’s European partners, while also complying with the rulings of the Constitutional Court in Bucharest.
