The leadership of the European Parliament on a visit to Bucharest
European Parliament President Antonio Tajani wants Romanias first-time presidency of the EU Council to be a success
România Internațional, 22.11.2018, 13:50
The President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani and the leaders of the nine political groups in the European Parliament have come to Bucharest for talks with Romanian high-ranking officials about Romania’s taking over the presidency of the EU Council on the 1st of January 2019. At the end of the European Parliament Conference of Presidents with the Government of Romania, Antonio Tajani stated he wanted Romania’s presidency of the EU Council to be a success, not only for Romania, but for the entire European Union.
During the talks, Tajani highlighted the fact that there are many priorities that need to be considered, such as Brexit, the multi-annual budget after 2020, European Parliament elections and migration. During the meeting with the leadership of the EP, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis stated that Romania wanted to help promote the European common agenda, in a constructive manner and based on consensus, and that the European Parliament would be a key partner to Romania during its presidency of the EU Council. In turn, the Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila gave assurances that Bucharest was ready to take over the presidency, including with regard to logistics.
The Romanian authorities presented the four main topics of the 6-month term: a cohesive Europe, a European with a larger global role, a Europe of security and a Europe of values. Representatives of all political groups in the European Parliament insisted that rules are the same for all the member states as regards the rule of law, stressing that the parliament’s recent resolution was not against Romania and its citizens, but against the policies implemented by the Romanian government and parliament. The members of the Conference of Presidents explained that no derailment from the observance of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary was acceptable, irrespective of the country concerned, because otherwise the EU would be destroyed from the inside.
The MEPs also drew attention to the fact that, if we want peace, there is no alternative to democracy, because a democratic state cannot attack another democratic state. We recall that on November 13th, the European Parliament endorsed a draft resolution expressing concern for the changes brought to the criminal and judicial legislation in Romania, warning that the independence of the judiciary and the fight against corruption were at risk of being undermined. The resolution also condemned the violent and disproportionate intervention of the gendarme forces against participants in a big anti-government protest. The resolution was adopted after two debates held at the European Parliament, which were also attended by the Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila and President Klaus Iohannis.
