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President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani said on Wednesday in Bucharest that he wants the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council next year to be a success not only for Romania but for the entire European Union.
The EP official attended together with a Brussels delegation the meeting of the European Parliament Conference of Presidents with the Government of Romania, organized in view of Romania's upcoming term at the helm of the EU Council, as of January 1, 2019.
We discussed Brexit, we discussed the priorities of the European Parliament which need to be considered and mentioned in this agreement. It's about the rights of the European citizens of the UK, 3.6 million European citizens live in the UK. Also, the rights of British citizens across the EU are important. The commitments made by the UK for the 2014 - 2020 Financial Framework must be maintained and, as a third point - regarding the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Peace must be guaranteed, compliance with the well-known Good Friday Agreement, but this border must be flexible. (...) The entry of products that make unfair competition to our agriculture and agri-food industry must be avoided. (...) We all trust chief negotiator Barnier and we hope a positive agreement is reached. The European Parliament will have the final say, but we will work closely with the Romanian Presidency and the European Commission to be able to protect the interests of the European citizens, Tajani said.
We have requested the cooperation of the Government of Romania in order to clinch a positive solution - it is about migration and especially about the set of seven proposals, which also refer to the reform of the Dublin asylum rules. As you know, the Parliament adopted a legislative text. Now we want the Council, in its turn, to accept our proposals, even if there will be a possible compromise, but in order to obtain this we need determined and resolute action on the part of the Romanian Government. At the meeting today, we received assurances of the hardworking involvement of the Government in Bucharest in settling this issue, and I hereby thank Mrs. Prime Minister, Tajani said.
The EP President also referred to the 'Marshall Plan for Africa' aimed at combating the roots of migration, stating that it is however clear that not only migration is a source of concern - as the security of the EU external borders and fighting terrorism must also be considered, therefore it is important for Africa to become a stable continent.
We received assurance from the Government of Romania regarding efforts to nail down at least an agreement regarding the General Financial Framework. We insist that member states do not postpone this file until after the European elections because it is fair for the citizens to know what the EU's intentions for the future are, therefore we want to bring the citizens increasingly closer to the European institutions. You know there's this issue, with many citizens feeling they are driven away by the European institutions, and this is why concrete solutions are needed in this regard, said Antonio Tajani.
There is a great deal of resistance in the European Parliament against the European Commission's proposals on the Common Agricultural Policy, and these proposals may end up being rejected by the European Parliament. We will see what happens, but we have large reservations as regards the content. The Parliament does not want Common Agricultural Policy funds to be cut and we also defend the EU's cohesion policy. Of course we will have to work closely with the Romanian Presidency to obtain positive results. We want own resources for the European budget, we want the budget to grow from 1.1 to 1.3 of the Community's GDP and we want to do this without asking for extra money from the member states. For instance, we are in favor of a tax on Internet giants, Tajani said.
According to him, the talks also referred to the EU's external security and the observance of rule of law, defending the fundamental values of the EU and human rights.
These must be respected in all European countries, and we also said that action must be taken to defend them elsewhere too. I am thinking of Venezuela, Nicaragua, of other regions where, unfortunately, the freedom of the press is limited. In the next few months the European Union will make its voice heard in this respect, Tajani underscored.
In conclusion, the EP President said that this first meeting in Bucharest was positive, the more so as "the Romanian Government has pledged support to certain initiatives of the European Parliament".
I am thinking of the Dublin Convention, and of reaching a political agreement on the budget. This is a signal of high availability that the Government of Romania is sending to us. We are prepared to work together with the next Presidency, on May 9 we will attend the Sibiu Summit, when we will have the occasion to send out a strong message to the voters, because we want turnout in the next European elections to be as high as possible, Antonio Tajani concluded.
