The priorities of Romania’s presidency of the Council of the European Union

Prime minister Viorica Dancila told Parliament on Wednesday that the priorities of the Romanian presidency of the Council of the European Union rest on four pillars: the Europe of convergence, the Europe of safety, Europe, a global player and the Europe of shared values. Convergence and cohesion, she said, are essential for achieving a united Europe and increase the Union's competitiveness.

In a declaration adopted on Wednesday, Parliament pledged to support the cabinet to achieve all its goals during Romania's term as holder of the EU presidency. These goals include a citizen-focused agenda, supporting the European cohesion policy, the continuation of the Common Agricultural Policy, facilitating parliamentary dialogue with the United Kingdom in the context of the latter's withdrawal from the European Union, and enhancing the transparency of the European institutions. The Social Democrat senator Gabriela Cretu from the ruling party:

"Based on institutional collaboration, the ministers will regularly inform the parliamentary committees and the political groups about the progress made in the achievement of the priorities of the Romanian presidency and the main developments connected to the important issues on the European agenda. The Romanian president is also invited to brief Parliament on the discussions and decisions of the European Council meetings for the duration of Romania's term."

Calin Popescu Tariceanu, the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, wants Romania to act against the idea of a two-speed Europe:

"We don't want the gaps between the North and the South and between the East and the West to widen. We don't want to let Europe become a union with two groups of states, first-rank states and second-rank states, with double standards, whether economic, political, social or of any other kind."

From the opposition, the Liberals are voicing the concerns of those who believe the government may fail to achieve its goals because the ruling coalition is mounting an attack on the European and western values themselves. The Liberal senator Florin Citu:

"Your actions are giving you away no matter how hard you try to hide it behind triumphalist speeches. You have managed to add nine more points to the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism report, thus putting even more distance between Romania and its objective to join the Schengen Area."

Rozalia Biro, a deputy from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, underlined that in its six-month term, Romania must act with one voice in order to fulfill all its objectives. The former president Traian Basescu, currently a senator from the People's Movement Party, asked the government if the priorities made public are correlated with the speech of president Klaus Iohannis, which was a legitimate question given the chronic conflict between the head of state and the cabinet. On the other hand, the call for unity already seems meaningless given that the opposition is already preparing to call for a no-confidence vote against the government at the end of the year.