Romania's Justice Minister Tudorel Toader met France's Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet on Friday to discuss the state of play for Romania's preparations for assuming the six-month rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union on January 1, 2019.
According to a press statement released by the Romanian Justice Ministry, the meeting took place on the side-lines of the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting that took place in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday and Friday.
"The two dignitaries discussed the state of play in the preparations for Romania taking over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union, presenting the files that will have priority under the Romania tenure, as well as a series of events scheduled to take place in the first half of 2019. Minister Tudorel Toader invited his French counterpart to come to Romania on a working visit on the side-lines of the informal meeting of the justice ministers to be held in Bucharest in February 2019. The two officials voiced their shared desire to co-operate constructively and to advance as many of the files currently under negotiation as possible that are taken over by the Romanian side early next year, while also counting on the support of the other ministers of justice of the other EU member states, the European Commission and the European Parliament.'
Accompanying Toader at the meeting was ambassador Luminita Odobescu, the permanent representative of Romania to the European Union, as well as a technical delegation.