Prime
\nminister Viorica Dancila told Parliament on Wednesday that the priorities of
\nthe Romanian presidency of the Council of the European Union rest on four
\npillars: the Europe of convergence, the Europe of safety, Europe, a global
\nplayer and the Europe of shared values. Convergence and cohesion, she said, are
\nessential for achieving a united Europe and increase the Union’s
\ncompetitiveness. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In a
\ndeclaration adopted on Wednesday, Parliament pledged to support the cabinet to
\nachieve all its goals during Romania’s term as holder of the EU presidency.
\nThese goals include a citizen-focused agenda, supporting the European cohesion
\npolicy, the continuation of the Common Agricultural Policy, facilitating
\nparliamentary dialogue with the United Kingdom in the context of the latter’s
\nwithdrawal from the European Union, and enhancing the transparency of the
\nEuropean institutions. The Social Democrat senator Gabriela Cretu from the
\nruling party:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Based on
\ninstitutional collaboration, the ministers will regularly inform the parliamentary
\ncommittees and the political groups about the progress made in the achievement
\nof the priorities of the Romanian presidency and the main developments
\nconnected to the important issues on the European agenda. The Romanian
\npresident is also invited to brief Parliament on the discussions and decisions
\nof the European Council meetings for the duration of Romania’s term.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Calin Popescu
\nTariceanu, the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the junior
\npartner in the ruling coalition, wants Romania to act against the idea of a
\ntwo-speed Europe:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We don’t
\nwant the gaps between the North and the South and between the East and the West
\nto widen. We don’t want to let Europe become a union with two groups of states,
\nfirst-rank states and second-rank states, with double standards, whether
\neconomic, political, social or of any other kind.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
From the
\nopposition, the Liberals are voicing the concerns of those who believe the
\ngovernment may fail to achieve its goals because the ruling coalition is
\nmounting an attack on the European and western values themselves. The Liberal
\nsenator Florin Citu:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Your actions
\nare giving you away no matter how hard you try to hide it behind triumphalist
\nspeeches. You have managed to add nine more points to the Cooperation and
\nVerification Mechanism report, thus putting even more distance between Romania
\nand its objective to join the Schengen Area.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Rozalia Biro,
\na deputy from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, underlined
\nthat in its six-month term, Romania must act with one voice in order to fulfill
\nall its objectives. The former president Traian Basescu, currently a senator
\nfrom the People’s Movement Party, asked the government if the priorities made
\npublic are correlated with the speech of president Klaus Iohannis, which was a
\nlegitimate question given the chronic conflict between the head of state and
\nthe cabinet. On the other hand, the call for unity already seems meaningless
\ngiven that the opposition is already preparing to call for a no-confidence vote
\nagainst the government at the end of the year. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Europe of convergence, the Europe of safety, Europe, a global player and the Europe of shared values are the pillars of Romania’s EU presidency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":79959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[29966,32598],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-79958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-european-union","tag-presidency"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n