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Keeping Romania and Bulgaria outside Schengen is, no doubt about it, contradicting the desideratum of strengthening cohesion at EU level, Speaker of the Deputies' Chamber and leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Liviu Dragnea said at the meeting he had with a delegation of the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament.
Participating in the discussions with President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani was also the President of the Senate, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu.
The main topics discussed were Romania's preparations for holding the presidency of the Council of EU in the first half of next year, especially with respect to topics of major interest on the European agenda.
The two Romanian officials hailed the European Parliament's openness to dialogue and good cooperation in preparing the presidency of the Council of the EU, while giving assurance with respect to Romania's commitment and readiness to contribute, through joint efforts, to the advancement of the EU agenda, to the benefit of the EU project and citizens.
In what concerns the interest voiced by the President of the European Parliament in the current stage of preparations and Romania's perspective with respect to the sensitive files to be dealt with by our country during the time when it will be holding the presidency of the EU Council, Liviu Dragnea showed that there are several special challenges.
"It is important that, through our political actions, we bring the European Union project closer to the citizens. The key to our unity within the EU is first of all related to the equal treatment and solidarity existing between the Member States, as fundamental values, which the European project was built on in the first place. The fact that Romania and Bulgaria are kept outside the Schengen Area is contradicting the desideratum of strengthening the cohesion of the EU," showed Dragnea.
In respect to the European elections, the Speaker of the Deputies' Chamber insisted on the importance of a pragmatic approach, to place the European citizens at the core of the electoral activity, with an essential aspect being the EU's capacity of projecting cohesion at both the economic and social level and increasing the level of trust in the European institutions and in their ability to answer to the real needs of the Europeans.
The Senate President underscored that, during the presidency of the Council of the EU, Romania will act as an impartial mediator and a consensus facilitator. Moreover, he said that, in the long run, the EU efficiency depends on its capacity to ensure an adequate convergence level between Member States and improve the level of cohesion, through maintaining and promoting the common values.
Moreover, Tariceanu highlighted the fact that one of the international files that will see important developments and a much awaited closure by a large number of European citizens during the time when Romania will be holding the presidency of the Council of the EU is Brexit.
He hailed the consensus obtained by the EU and UK in respect to the Withdrawal Agreement and voiced hope that the Agreement will be certified by the European Council upcoming late this week.
"The Withdrawal Agreement will guarantee the protection of all European citizens' rights, including the Romanians, established in the UK until December 31, 2020. They will be able to travel, live and study in the UK based on a special status, called the settled status. We hope that the agreement will be approved by the European Parliament and ratified by the British Parliament in the form agreed by both parties," said Calin Popescu-Tariceanu.
AGERPRES .
