The weeks before the EU summit in Rome, along with the five scenarios outlined by J.C. Juncker before starting the discussions, have also set Romania on fire. The vague terms (several „speeds”, „different rhythms and intensities”, „the hard core”, „united” Europe, etc.) are only now to start being clarified.
A first step – discussion with the former prime minister and European Commissioner Dacian Ciolos. One of the most “mobile” people over the past few weeks – especially due to his extended visit to Brussels and the direct contacts with his former colleagues and partners.
We knew the conclusion: our cards are in our hands.
But how to play while being in the last position by the main indicators measuring the development of society?
(Editorial team)
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cursdeguvernare.ro: Mr. Ciolos, you were last week in Brussels, in a sensitive and unpredictable period, full of tension caused by potential surprises, a time that preceded the summit in Rome at this turning point for the European Union.
In fact, in what capacity did you have the meetings with the European officials?
I obviously attended the meetings in my own name. It is a natural thing for former commissioners and former prime ministers to maintain contacts with the European leaders. It is natural for the officials in Brussels to keep in touch and consult with them on issues of European interest.
For five years, I was a commissioner and a colleague of almost one-third of the current members of the College of Commissioners, as well as some MEPs. Including the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, and the Chief Negotiator in charge of Brexit on behalf of the Commission, Michel Barnier. We were colleagues and have been working on various fronts to promote the European initiatives and I maintained very good relationships with most of them. Besides, last year, as Prime Minister, I had close contacts with the European institutions to promote Romania’s interests and views. To give just one example, I remember the cancelation of visas for Romanians who travel to Canada, in the context of adopting the EU-Canada trade agreement – CETA.
It is my belief that this relationship of trust built over time, these contacts and connections can and should be used in the interest of Romania. That is what I want to do. Along with many other things, this is also a way for Romania to increase its profile in the European decision-making process.
cursdeguvernare.ro: Specifically, regarding this visit: what were the topics discussed with all these European officials and political leaders?
First, I wanted to learn first-hand the main directions of the debates within the European Commission on the scenarios about the future of the EU. It is about the scenarios launched by President Jean-Claude Juncker.
We also discussed some projects in progress at the European Commission, particularly the projects that will have an impact on Romania.
cursdeguvernare.ro: What would be the European projects with impact on Romania?
First, the revision of the EU budget, the planning of the new EU financial perspectives especially for the interval after 2020.
We have also discussed the review of the Common Agricultural Policy, as well as some energy related topics and the European Investment Fund – the so-called Juncker plan.
cursdeguvernare.ro: Could you tell us, but in the most concrete way possible, beyond the general approach – projects, discussions, people, as you mentioned earlier some names – and so on – how question arises and what precise topics you discussed?
Yes. About the European Investment Fund, for instance. You know that Romania ranks among the last European countries by number of projects financed and I had a discussion with the Vice-President of the Commission, Jirky Katainen, in a meeting that former Minister of Health Vlad Voiculescu also attended.
I offered some ideas on how we could improve the use of these financial resources. Starting right from the main problem – that is, primarily by strengthening the technical assistance component for preparing these projects in the member states. Especially in the Eastern counties, less well-tuned in applying and using such financial tools.
With the Commission the Vice-President of the Commission Vladis Dombrovskis I discussed the budget situation in Romania and Romania’s macroeconomic evolution, at this moment and in the future. For instance, the Commission expects to see the measures that Grindeanu government approved to keep the budget deficit under control.
With Commissioner Hahn, I talked about the Republic of Moldova and the EU neighbourhood.
Then: with Michel Barnier, the Chief Negotiator in charge of Brexit on behalf of the Commission, we discussed the negotiation timetable and his intentions for approaching the negotiations. This is important because it is about running the current negotiations so that the rights of Romanians working in the UK to be safeguarded.
With Phil Hogan, Commissioner for Agriculture, I discussed the future of the Common Agricultural Policy. About continuing the reform made in 2014, the budget allocation and especially about further balancing the subsidies between the farmers from the East and West. With him and several other commissioners, I also wanted to test the support for some ideas that I plan to launch for public debate in the next period of time, to solve a thorny issue that deeply concerns not only Romania but also other new member states. It is about the transactions with agricultural land.
There were also many other topics covered. I met with 12 members of the European Commission, including the President, the First Vice-President and three other Vice -Presidents.
cursdeguvernare.ro: A curiosity that I have and I believe that others have it as well: could you describe the manner – both formal and informal, of approaching the matters in such a meeting?
Obviously, these were not formal discussions. These are people whom I know and who know me for a long time, and in such cases, discussions are open and direct.
I told them several times, and always using arguments that Romania, as a member state, should be understood and judged not only by what one or other government does, either good or bad, but especially by the way the society assumes Romania’s EU member status.
We had some great examples this year which, I can confirm, have profoundly marked the feelings in the European Union. My belief and hope are that Romania will be increasingly present in the European debates, with proposals and alternative solutions, not just criticism.
cursdeguvernre.ro: You wrote on the social networks that Romania should, or even will be part of the so-called hard core of Europe. What does that mean exactly? What does that mean, specifically?
First, it means for Romania to have opinions, views, proposals on topics from the European agenda.
It also means to have justified reactions to the proposals made by others. And very important, in promoting its views, to consult and coordinate with the other European partners that want a strong European Union.
But that means for Romania to know what it wants regarding the main topics on the agenda. Or, where appropriate, to put new topics on the agenda and seek for support from heavyweight European partners for these topics – I am referring to Germany and France. But not only.
Romania will have an unprecedented opportunity to act that way in 2019 when holds the rotating six-month presidency of the EU Council.
cursdeguvernare.ro: But beyond that – „hard core” means a certain standard, economic, social, administrative, etc. If we look at statistics, Romania ranks among the last countries by very many indicators related to the European standards. How could we be part of the so-called hard core with such performance? Or: What are the directions on which Romania can count, but realistically speaking, not a wishful thinking, to belong to the so-called hard core?
Of course, there are several directions on which we can go for Romania to catch up with the EU hard core, directions that are complementary and so on.
We can speak about catching up in terms of economic, social and development indicators. We can then talk about the degree of integration into certain EU policies and instruments.
Yes, Romania is not yet in the Eurozone. But it primarily depends on us when we take this step. Yes, Romania is not yet in the Schengen area, although all technical conditions are met. That is because, whether we like it or not, we have not managed to demonstrate that fight against corruption and protection of the rule of law have entered an irreversible path and, unfortunately, some member states use that as an argument – wrongly in my opinion – to delay the final decision on our accession to Schengen. And it is also up to us, again, whether there will be any other episode like Black Tuesday or the OUG 13.
Instead, Romania already joins the EU hard core in the European Public Prosecutor project and from what I know, there will be other key projects that Romania will also join.
About the indicators: they will change as Romania will act towards improving the specific standards. And that should be done primarily for the Romanians, for their welfare and not only to strengthen the position in Europe.
We are too much used to justify some measures because others require so. The measures should be taken as a commitment, explained and brought to an end, if and because this is how we consider that things should be done and not because Brussels or others demand that from us. It is primarily a matter of attitude. We should start by respecting ourselves.
And by attitude, ideas and verticality, we can also get closer to the hard core on themes of common interest even now, although we do not meet certain indicators or parameters. It is not enough to say that we want to be there. We have to assume this path, in a credible and especially predictable way.
And speaking of assets and stakes: we should not forget that Romania is one of the most important member states by size and development potential, in this region of the EU. And we are not talking only about potential. Romania has now an economic growth that is among the most important in the EU. Investors continue to be interested in Romania – and I hope they will not be made to run away by irresponsible economic and tax policy decisions. We have several millions of Romanians who contribute to the economic growth of other EU member states. We have many, many rationales in our support and I also used them in the meetings and discussions that I had last year when I was prime minister, with several European leaders and even from outside the EU.
As a conclusion of this question: I believe that by doing exactly what we should do and what we need for things to go better at home, in the economy, in administration, in terms of social policies, Romania will become at the same time a serious and interesting partner of the European hard core.
cursdeguvernare.ro: Yes, that sounds nice, but: besides the formal EU membership, what are the Romania’s unifying elements in the future united Europe, as every intuition would say it would be configured? Directly put: who, why and how could maintain us on the European orbit, who and why would be willing to spend for that?
You see, agriculture taught me to be a practical and patient man.
Therefore, I do not believe this hard core of Europe is so intangible, as some would like to make it. Some, who perhaps might be happy, including politically, with this ambiguous positioning of Romania’s role in the EU.
I do not think we should accept a periphery status. To be important, we should first be credible in what we do at home, to show that we are willing to go a certain way, no matter who comes to power. And we owe that primarily to Romanians, not the European Union.
I do not believe that anyone expects for Romania to catch up with Germany overnight. But they expect, realistically, for Romania to step in one direction and keep an azimuth. Being part of the EU core is not an illusion. The hundreds of thousands of people who took to the streets feel Romania more at home in the EU than many politicians who caused the crisis and pull an entire country behind them, to a realm of lies, duplicity, and populism.
cursdeguvernare.ro: It is a well-known fact that in the meetings, summits, councils and ongoing contacts with the influential EU leaders, personal relationships really matter. Who you have in the phone book, who answers to your calls, who takes seriously what you say, what guarantees you can offer during such discussions.
It is a natural curiosity that a citizen has when it comes to how things configure above him, at the decision level: give us some examples of how people with vision and influence from the European leadership contact each other and take into account the position of the other.
Trust is built when working with other leaders to find solutions to decision bottlenecks or when looking for majorities and ideas around which to build majorities in the decisive moments.
The five years spent in Brussels, the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy that practically concerned all member states, the discussions on building the EU budget for 2014-2020, in which I participated, helped me to strengthen these relationships of trust.
I believe that sometimes we are wrong by formalising ourselves too much and putting too much emphasis on institutional relations. Brussels is not a bureaucratic monster that tells us what to do and how to proceed. If we look from this perspective, we start from a losing position.
The institutional relations are, of course, essential, but at the political level, credibility, strength of persuasion, confidence, all these depend on people, are built over time with consistency and honesty.
Therefore, those who think that it works to tell one thing to the European partners in Brussels and other to people at home are wrong. It might work at home, politically speaking, in the short term. But it would not work at the next meeting with the European leaders and the cost would be for the country to bear, not that politician.
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Dacian Ciolos is a former European Commissioner for Agriculture, ex-prime minister of Romania
