#Romania2019.eu/Dancila: Regardless of scenario of Brexit negotiations, citizens must remain the priority

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila on Thursday said that, regardless of the scenario in which the negotiations on Brexit with the UK take place, the EU's priority must remain the protection of the rights of the European citizens who live, work or study in the UK.

"We respect the UK's decision of pulling out of the European Union, but we must make sure, at the same time, we limit the negative consequences generated by this withdrawal. The most efficient instrument in this respect is the withdrawal agreement reached on a political level by the EU leaders and PM Theresa May, which represents a fair and balanced compromise. The agreement obtained will ensure the legal certainty both for the business environment and for the citizens, whom it guarantees the preservation of the rights they are enjoying at present. The priority of the Union in these negotiations has been the protection of the rights of European citizens, including, of course, Romanians, who live, work or study in the UK. I believe in the coming period, too, the citizens must remain our priority, and our goal should be that, regardless of the scenario in which the negotiations advance, we should minimise as much as possible the negative effects on their lives," Dancila told Radio Romania Actualitati.

The PM said that also supported must be the efforts of the European Commission, the Brexit chief-negotiator and other European institutions to "ensure the necessary institutional framework in any of the scenarios that could materialise in the coming period."

"I believe maintaining the unity of the member states around the principles established on the EU level remains an objective in this file and in this respect we shall create the proper framework for facilitating dialogue among the member states, EU 27 this time, concerning the path to follow in the coming period. Coming back to the citizens, I emphasise the special importance that Romania grants to the mobility topic, in particular to observing the principles of reciprocity and non-discrimination among the member states. In this context, in the discussions on the future relations EU - UK, Romania will endorse a very ambitious approach regarding the future cooperation in this area, in particular in what concerns the continuation of enforcing the principles of coordinating the social security systems. I am positive that this aspect would be both to the benefit of EU citizens in the UK and British citizens settled in EU member states," Dancila maintained.

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