Preparations for the Romanian EU presidency

Romanias EU Council presidency begins in January 2019

Daniela Budu, 20.06.2018, 13:26

Romania is prepared to take over the rotating presidency of the EU Council on January 1, was the message sent in Brussels by the Romanian minister delegate for European affairs, Victor Negrescu. In his talks with a number of European Commissioners, Negrescu discussed Romanias priorities for next year, in areas such as budget and human resources, research, energy and competition.

The Romanian official says Romania would like the cohesion policy, which targets economic, social and territorial convergence, to be a central element of the European budget. As for the common agricultural policy, Romania wants measures to reduce gaps in terms of subsidies, to support young farmers and competitive farms, which provide high-quality products to European markets.

Another field on Romanias agenda is research and innovation. Victor Negrescu explained that Romania wants equal and fair access to resources in this field, equal salaries for all researchers, regardless of where they come from, and transparent evaluation.

Victor Negrescu: “I have highlighted Romanias support for such initiatives and the fact that we want additional funding for this initiative, because we want to attract researchers from across Europe to our country and, even more importantly, to bring back the Romanian researchers who work in other parts of Europe. I am confident that, if we join forces, the Government of Romania and Romanias representatives in the European Parliament, we will be able to persuade the European Commission and the other partners that this is the positive approach.

Romania seeks an EU Council presidency based on dialogue between member states and consensus on key issues, the official also added. Negrescu confirmed that the country is ready to take over the shadow presidency during Austrias term in office, which means that the country will attend all negotiations, including the ones with the European Parliament and the European Commission. Analyst Iulian Chifu warns that Romania must take care to fulfil its commitments:

Iulian Chifu: “Six months ahead of taking over the EU Council presidency, the worst that can happen is for Romania to run off the track or do something that puts it on a collision course with the European Commission, with the European Union, with its bilateral commitments to the US or NATO, first of all because whether we like it or not, we are all interdependent and we have to rely on these partners.

According to Chifu, Romania has grown a lot in terms of investment, standards of living and gross domestic product, primarily as a consequence of the countrys integration in Western structures.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)