Romania chairs first GAC meeting
The General Affairs Council held its first meeting under Romanian chairmanship
Daniela Budu, 09.01.2019, 13:10
Romania undertakes to be an honest mediator that preserves the unity and cohesion of the European Union during its presidency of the EU Council, said the minister for European affairs, George Ciamba, at the first meeting of the General Affairs council chaired by Romania.
Ciamba presented the priorities of this six-month presidency, highlighting its 4 pillars: Europe of convergence, a safer Europe, Europe – a stronger regional actor, and Europe of shared values. Speaking about the European context in which Romanias term in office takes place, and which is marked by a number of complex processes, such as Brexit, the negotiations on the forthcoming multiannual financial framework, the elections for the European Parliament, and the reflection on the future of the Union, the Romanian official said the Union needs more unity and cohesion, today more than ever:
George Ciamba: “Convergence is very important to Romania, as illustrated by our motto, ‘Cohesion, a shared European value. Cohesion is a process that not only strengthens the single market, but also generates benefits for citizens. We are talking about creating jobs, about generating economic growth for our country as well as for the rest of Europe. So it is very important for us that no discrimination exists between the citizens of Europe.
Romania also seeks to achieve concrete results and to reach political agreements on as many topics as possible, so as to pave the way for the adoption of the new EU budget this autumn.
The EU ministers also discussed the issue of disinformation as a threat to European democracy. The topic was proposed by Romania, and Minister Ciamba said coordinated efforts and actions are required of Member States in this respect, particularly ahead of the European parliamentary elections due in May.
Back to the cohesion policy, one of the key elements of the Romanian presidency, Bucharest may be earmarked, as proposed by the European Commission, 8% more funds under the cohesion policy in the EU 2021-2027 budget than in the current framework. The European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu announced in a social media post that the Commission requested Parliament to approve the highest allocation so far under the cohesion policy, namely 373 billion euros, of which 31 billion for Romania.
In turn, the Minister for European Funds Rovana Plumb says Romania has not lost any money earmarked by Brussels. She explained that the absorption rate is close to the EU average, and that at the end of the year Bucharest filed several disbursement applications to the Commission, which should bring another 355 million euros into the country.
Rovana Plumb: “We should not forget that Romania started out from zero absorption, and since 2017 we have reached 26%. The European Commissions website confirms this. In absolute figures, we are talking about nearly 8 billion euros in investments that benefit millions of Romanians, local authorities and also the business environment.
Rovana Plumb also added that during the Romanian presidency of the EU Council, the cohesion budget will be managed by the Ministry for European Funds.
(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)
