Romania at the helm of the Council of the EU- promoting cohesion, with a citizens-oriented agenda (January- June 2019)

Romania will hold for the next six month the presidency of the Council of the EU, first time since it joined the European Union, period in which it will be at the core of the EU legislative process. The Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU opens the Trio of Presidencies composed of Romania, Finland and Croatia, being the last Presidency of the current legislative cycle of the European Parliament.

In these challenging times, that will shape the future of the Union – as Brexit, the negotiations for the future MFF, the European Parliament elections – Romania will uphold the commitment towards a united and cohesive European Union. As the next rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU, Romania will act as an honest broker, working “to build bridges” in order to advance the European agenda on all relevant files. Furthermore, in this endeavour, Romania will uphold the commitment towards a united and cohesive European Union and a citizens-oriented agenda, focusing our efforts on legislative and non-legislative files with a concrete impact on the daily life of European citizens.

The motto of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU – “Cohesion, a common European value” – reflects equally the need for unity and cooperation among all EU Member States, with the European institutions, as well as the need for enhanced economic, social and territorial cohesion. We promote “cohesion” in the sense of “unity”, as after Brexit more unity inside the EU is needed for all of us.

The agenda of the Romanian Presidency will focus on four priorities:

1. Europe of convergence, taking into consideration that a cohesive Europe has to provide equal development opportunities to all citizens and companies and we should make use of all available instruments in order to ensure economic, social and territorial cohesion throughout the Union. We will do so by promoting connectivity, digitalization, implementing regional cooperation projects, stimulating entrepreneurship and competitiveness of the European industry.
2. A safer Europe, through an increased cohesion between Member States against the new security challenges threatening the citizen’s safety and through supporting cooperation initiatives in the areas of justice and security.
3. Europe as a stronger global actor, consolidating the role of the European Union through supporting the enlargement agenda and the European path of our neighbours in the Eastern Partnership, as next year we celebrate its ten years anniversary. Ensuring cohesion around the common commitments and through developing citizen-oriented actions in third countries.
4. Stimulating European cohesion through dialogue about the common values embraced by the European citizens, focusing on bringing EU decision – making closer to them.

Romania’s presidency will also be a future oriented presidency, ensuring the transition at the European institutional level to the next Commission and Parliament, as well as building on the reflection on the future of Europe that will conclude with the Summit in Sibiu. From this perspective, the Sibiu Summit – symbolically taking place on Europe Day, 9 May 2019 – two weeks before European elections, will represent a landmark meeting of our presidency, focusing on a strategic projection on the European Union’s future course of actions, that would bring hope and the renewal of the European project.