Bucharest gives assurances that its preparations to take over the EU Council presidency are on schedule.
Every country that holds the 6-month European Union Council presidency, in keeping with the rotation principle, wants to prove it is a trustworthy member that approaches its mission with seriousness and professionalism and that it has a voice at European level. This is also Romania's intention, whose preparations to take over the EU Council presidency between January 1st and June 30, 2019, are on schedule. The Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Victor Negrescu, has told us more about it:
"We will hold the presidency of a European Union institution, namely the EU Council. This institution represents the member states in their relation with other institutions, such as the European Commission and the European Parliament. Therefore, Romania's role will be to preside over the EU Council meetings and generate consensus, that is a common stand of all member states in their relation with other institutions, as part of the European decision making process."
The period when Romania holds this position is extremely important for the future of the community bloc, with the strategic agenda for 2019-2024, with an emphasis on community budget, general policies, immigration and security to be drawn up during this time. Also, according to Minister Negrescu, Romania's EU Council presidency will be centred around the citizens, and Romania's message to the European community might be the fact that Europe needs, more than ever before, policies that are of interest to its people. Victor Negrescu:
"The EU policies that citizens are most interested in are, paradoxically, policies in fields where Europe does not have that much power. European citizens, wherever they may be in Europe, are expecting this entity and decision-makers to come up with measures in the field of education, health and security."
Perhaps more important than all these is the fact that the UK is scheduled to leave the EU during Romania's holding the EU Council presidency. Considering that around 3 million EU citizens live in the UK and that one million UK citizens live in the EU, everybody is waiting to see what happens after Brexit. Referring strictly to the bilateral relation, the British Ambassador to Bucharest, Paul Brummel, has already given assurances that Brexit will not cause a fundamental change in the everyday life of the UK citizens living in Romania or in that of Romanians living in the UK. In his opinion, Romania and the UK must continue their partnership and consolidate cooperation in the military, commercial and scientific fields.
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