Live Replay of the debate on the Presentation of the programme of activities of the Romanian Presidency during the plenary session in Strasbourg (14-17 January 2019).  The following transcription is the result of an automatic process. Check Against delivery.

TAJANI, Antonio (EPP, IT)

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

EU - Romania (T)

DĂNCILĂ, Viorica (S&D, RO)

Romanian Presidency of the EU (T)

Presentation of the programme of activities of the Romanian Presidency: Opening statement by Antonio TAJANI, EP President and Viorica DANCILA, Romanian Prime Minister (15:13 - 15:29)

SOUNDBITE (Original), Antonio TAJANI, EP President, The minutes from yesterday's session has been distributed. Are there any comments on that? No. In which case those minutes are adopted. The council and the Commission are now talking about the working program from the Romanian Presidency. We have the prime minister of the Republic of Romania. The floor is yours Madam.

SOUNDBITE (Romanian), Viorica D&#258;NCIL&#258;, Romanian Prime Minister, President, I'm honored to be here with you today in my capacity as prime minister of Romania and we took over the presidency of the European Union from Austria. And I would now like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to the Austrian presidency. At the same time I also wish to extend my gratitude to the trio partners Finland and Croatia. We have worked very closely with them very well with them to prepare our joint balanced work programme for the following 18 months I will now be presenting the priorities of the Romanian presidency of the EU Council and setting out the vision for the future of the European Union.

Ladies and gentlemen Europe has always been able to overcome obstacles and to revive itself after difficult moments in history. The European project in its current form has been shaped by many crises that Europe has had to go through. And today once again we find ourselves at a very difficult juncture when it comes to the European project. But as you know very well any situation of this kind can actually be harnessed and turned in to an opportunity a new beginning. And for that reason I would like to say that my vision of the Romanian presidency over the next 6 months is not just something that I see as a formal obligation. We have more than 500 million European citizens out there who are looking to us for an answer about the future for Europe.

And I believe therefore that it is very important for us to show the citizens of the European Union that EU institutions are working for them and in particular that they are able to produce results that improve people's lives and their hopes for the future. I am aware of the fact that the first step in this rotating presidency is going to be an intense time when it comes to the decision making process and that is why I'm really counting on your support to be able to as quickly as possible finalize as many legislative dossiers as possible that are on the agenda today and also to respond to the challenges that exist at European level.

The vision of the Europe Romanian presidency Is structured Around the ideas of cohesion as a European value. Which underpins all of the different dimensions political cohesion which is illustrated by a need for unity between the member states and then economic and territorial cohesion. And there we have a view on reducing the developmental gaps between the member states and between the regions. And then there's also social cohesion which is very important with regard to protecting the four freedoms of the internal market. So this idea of cohesion is also across cutting one and it's permeating the thematic priorities of our presidency which are set out in four different areas. First of all a Europe of convergence a Safer Europe and then Europe a stronger global actor. And then Europe of common values when it comes to a Europe of convergence that is our first pillar of action for the Romanian presidency of the EU Council.

And here we seek to shore up economic growth social development and to reduce the gaps that exist. Improve competitiveness connectivity and sustainability. The internal market is of course one of the greatest success stories of the European Union. It is at the core of our project and as such. One of the objectives of the Romanian presidency will be to advance the legislative agenda when it comes to the internal market. We need to do define the necessary structure or framework so that the market functions smoothly. We also need to consolidate the scientific and technological basis of European industry. And here we will be able then to stimulate our competitiveness at international level whilst at the same time we will be able to generate economic growth and new jobs. We will continue to promote digitalisation and that includes in the area of European industry the digital offensive has already been promoted by previous presidencies.

The Estonians and the Austrians worked on this during their presidencies and we will be taking up the baton and in turn continuing to fight on that with the same intensity. We also will be concentrating on improving connectivity between east and west and north and south so that we will facilitate all kinds of connections there to improve the opera lies opera operability of the four fundamental freedoms and improve economic competitiveness in the European Union and improve the living standards in areas which are less well developed. I was talking about the need for long term policies in terms of industry but it's also important to set out the regulation for the Energy Union. These two aspects will be occupying an important space in our thinking during the presidency with regard to the second pillar of the presidency now a Safer Europe. Here we face security challenges which threaten the security of our citizens and the European Union is now facing a broad range of different risks and threats which could undermine our values and social prosperity.

In our open society in a world of accelerated digitalization we have to make more progress when it comes to protecting our citizens in the virtual space. And we need to consolidate our the European Union's resilience to cyber attacks. As such security and cybersecurity are going to be an imperative for us for any of the projects with regard to information society that are carried out. Another important corollary of security which we will be dealing with very seriously concerns the negotiations and finalizing work to be done on the coherent management of migration flows and also the strengthening of the External Borders of the Union and also emergency interventions and the fight against terrorism as well as protection thing our citizens in the virtual space and the extension of the mandate of the European Public Prosecutor's Office with regard to terrorist acts and also the consolidation of judicial cooperation when it comes to civil and criminal law. We would like to contribute to finding viable solutions in this area linked to migration and we want to promote cooperation between the states of origin and the transit states as well as dealing with the issue of human trafficking. Third Pillar now that we'd like to propose for the Romanian presidency is the following Europe a stronger global actor. Our vision here. And our principal area of focus here will be. Underpinned by our common commitment.

Set out in a global strategy for external policies and security for the European Union. When it comes to security policy we will be promoting the strengthening of our defense capacities and the security capacities of the European Union. Working very closely and in a complementary fashion with similar initiatives in the context of NATO. At the same time we also need to pay focus or attention to our immediate neighborhoods. This means we have to make progress with the policy of enlargement of the European Union. This year we are celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the creation of the Eastern Partnership and that is going to be a key moment with regard to this policy. We will be paying particular attention therefore to the Western Balkan region. In addition we will be supporting the European Union's commitment at international level. And here we're thinking about defending trade interests modernizing the multilateral trading system and the extension of economic partnership agreements and free trade agreements.

The fourth pillar of the Romanian presidency is all about a Europe of common values. In other words we want to stimulate cohesion policy in the European Union and that is why we will be working very hard to promote the values and principles that unite us. We also however need to work firmly to address a series of problems that we continue to face. In the European Union such as racism intolerance xenophobia populism anti-Semitism. Or hate speech. We would like to see a more democratic union emerge. So we will be promoting equal opportunities. And here we want this to happen across the board for all in all member states for all citizens. As such it's very important for us to win the trust of our citizens. So they believe in the European project. Now I represent Romanian citizens here in my capacity as prime minister today. And they are very attached to the European Union.

But nevertheless they do feel they're not equally treated particularly with regard to the criticisms our country has received for certain issues that in other states are seemed to be natural natural phenomena. And then as a result we're seeing conditionality applied to the Romanians that we don't see elsewhere. The Romanians are feeling this inequality and they see this happening because their country is being excluded from their Shannon area. And I'd like to take this opportunity to thank President Juncker. And President Talabani for the support that they have expressed. For our accession to the Shannon area. I just wanted to give you these examples from my country. So that any decisions that are taken at European level with regard to a member state at the end of the day it must be understood that these decisions have an impact on the people back home and it will have an impact on the faith or the trust that they have vis a vis the European Union.

So that means that whenever we take decisions we have to think very carefully about the citizens back home in the member states that are affected by these decisions and therefore we have to eliminate or eradicate any kind of unequal treatment in order to shore up the common values of the European Union education and culture are the key to the future of Europe both from an individual perspective of each European citizen but also in terms of the consolidation of the European project overall. Also it is very important for us to find solutions that will define and determine the involvement of young people and get them on board for a strong Europe in the future that is underpinned by common European values. Ladies and gentlemen we will all be following closely the decision taken by the British Parliament and of course Brexit will be a key focus of the Romanian presidency and we will come back to this historic moment if the European Union. But we do also have to learn lessons from this situation.

In May our democracy this great transnational democracy will once again elect a new European Parliament. And I think it is important to think about the future of that electoral context because this is an opportunity for us who believe in Europe to promote a union that is more clearly focused on its founding principles and inspired by our common European ambition. I believe in a strong Europe of unity a good Europe which is honouring its commitments to its citizens and globally. And even I believe in a Europe that is even more European and is more European by promoting genuine European values and inspiring its citizens to be proud of their membership of the European Space. United and strong Europe in its full dimensions politically economically and socially is the best possible solution for the future of the European project. Thank you very much indeed.