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Chairman of the PLUS Party and of the European Parliament's Renew Europe Group Dacian Ciolos met on Thursday with President Klaus Iohannis and with Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu.
"There are several European emergencies that are of great strategic importance for Romania and it is extremely important that all of us, who can influence the upcoming decisions, act in coordination. This is primarily about the amounts that can be obtained through the future European budget and which could be essential for Romania's development in the next 7 years, but also about having the border restrictions for our citizens and companies lifted by accession to the Schengen Area," Dacian Ciolos said in a statement.
According to the cited source, Ciolos and President Iohannis discussed mainly about the ongoing negotiations on the European funds Romania can access both through the recovery plan proposed by the European Commission and from the future EU budget. The PLUS Chairman wanted to learn what the President's intentions are in the future negotiations in the European Council, so that the MEPs of the USR PLUS Alliance can help with this approach in the negotiations in the European Parliament.
"We are at a time where the Council and the European Parliament discuss both the amounts and the programs through which these allocations will come. Romania needs this coordination between the President and the MEPs in order to obtain the best solutions and European money exactly where it is most needed, for infrastructure programs, digitization, energy, small farmers and other areas that are critical to us. Without a clear vision of Romania in these talks we risk to receive funding that will go wasted on unnecessary projects," Ciolos argues.
The PLUS Party Chairman also met with the Justice Minister to look at the stage of the projects announced by the Liberal government, which are essential for unlocking negotiations for Romania's Schengen accession.
"In 2016 we were extremely close to entering the Schengen, as even states that had opposed the move until then were giving us signals that they support our joining the border-free area in 2017. Unfortunately, PSD came to rule and squandered through the pressure put on the judiciary this enormous chance for the Romanian citizens and our companies to benefit from the full EU membership. Today I wanted to talk with Minister Predoiu about the stage of some essential projects: the Special Section, the Justice package and the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes. Without clarity in this process, Romania cannot leave the MCV, and this is essential for the Schengen accession negotiations. Moreover, there are advanced approaches for the money from the future European budget to be accessed only by countries with a functional rule of law and an independent judiciary. For these reasons, we are obliged that, as soon as there is a solid democratic majority in Parliament, we put up for vote the package of anti-corruption amendments," Dacian Ciolos explains.
