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Romania and the European Union
(2012-03-16)
Last updated: 2012-03-19 16:37 EET Print
The absorption of EU funds and Romania’s Schengen bid were the main points discussed by Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu during his first official visit to Brussels as the head of the Romanian government. Ungureanu met European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council president Herman Van Rompuy. Barroso hailed the efforts of the Romanian authorities to meet the fiscal targets set for 2012 and its commitments stipulated in the EU-IMF financial assistance programme. Among others, these include major structural reforms that will help root out the causes of macroeconomic imbalances. On the other hand, president Barroso underscored Romania’s agonizingly low EU fund absorption rate, arguing that spending the money shelled out by the EU should be “a priority” for the Romanian executive. Jose Manuel Barroso, quote: “The current absorption rate of 7.4% is painfully low. I really welcome the commitment that Prime Minister Ungureanu has shown in terms of focusing his energy and determination in addressing this area. This is indeed a priority concern not only for Romania, but also for the European Commission”. A better absorption of available funds could increase the country’s GDP by as much as 1.8% per year. Prime Minister Ungureanu advocated a sustainable economic recovery within the European Union, which requires an operational single market: Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu: “We have looked at means to consolidate fiscal discipline and competitiveness at EU level and some of the ways to implement them. We also discussed Romania’s efforts to take part in this process and the fact that we have joined the Euro Plus Agreement and signed the Fiscal Stability Treaty, something which we see as our duty, considering our bid to join the Eurozone”. A sensitive matter on the agenda of talks was Romania’s Schengen accession. Originally slated for March 2011, our country’s accession to the passport-free travel area has been repeatedly postponed, more often than not due to pointed opposition from the Netherlands. President Barroso made it clear the Commission would dismiss any attempt to tie the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification in the field of the judiciary to Romania’s Schengen accession, an would push for a final decision to be taken by September at the latest. Ungureanu and European Council president Herman Van Rompuy discussed the possibility of opening up dialogue on xenophobic and antidemocratic attitudes. This occurred on the same day when the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning a website launched by the far-right Dutch Liberty Party recently. The website whips up discrimination against East-European immigrants, in particular Romanians, Poles and Bulgarians. The European Parliament has called on the European Commission and the European Council to step up their efforts to put an end to the proliferation of xenophobia within the Union.

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