Participation of Minister Delegate for European Affairs George Ciamba in the round table “The Europe Next Project - A New Political Ambition for Europe”

Source: Romanian presidency of the EU (Romanian presidency) i, published on Tuesday, June 11 2019.

On June 11, Minister Delegate for European Affairs George Ciamba participated in the round table “The Europe Next Project - A New Political Ambition for Europe”, an event organised under the auspices of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in cooperation with Aspen Institute Romania and The German Marshall Fund, Bucharest office.

In his speech, the minister delegate referred to the current context, marked by the recent elections for the European Parliament and the end of the institutional cycle, as an opportunity to renew the commitments of the Member States and of the EU institutions towards strengthening the European project.

In that connection, the Romanian official highlighted the importance of the EU’s Strategic Agenda for the next five years (2019-2024), a document that would both reflect a new political ambition for the future of the European Union and become an effective instrument to make collective efforts converge and achieve sensible outcomes for the citizens of the Union. With respect to the Union’s strategic priorities for the next period, the minister delegate called for pursuing ambitious key objectives such as fostering sustainable growth and convergence in the Union, deepening the single market, ensuring internal security and shaping a more efficient and active role of the EU on the regional and the international arenas.

The minister delegate also reiterated Romania’s support for strengthening the European Union in a consistent and inclusive way, a commitment proven by the efforts made by the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU and by the successes it achieved under its mandate, such as obtaining a qualified majority for the approval of the Gas Directive.

He also recalled the importance of the Sibiu Informal Summit of the EU leaders, a reference point in the debates regarding the future of the EU and an opportunity for the Member States to reaffirm their political will to safeguard unity and solidarity, as well as their determination to identify common responses to the current challenges, as fundamental principles underpinning the future actions of the European Union.

Minister George Ciamba also approached the challenges that the European Union is currently faced with, such as the Brexit process. The Romanian official emphasised that the Romanian Council Presidency was strongly determined to pass effective contingency measures that would safeguard the rights of both the UK and the EU citizens, irrespective of the ultimate outcome of that hot file.

With regard to the enlargement of the European Union, minister George Ciamba pointed out that advancing that file was strategically important and of consequence for the prosperity and the security of the European project.

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The debates taking place in the event The Europe Next Project - A New Political Ambition for Europe” were structured around three panels focusing on key issues related to the future of the European project, namely “Cohesion and unity in European policy”, “Europe at the forefront of the digital revolution”, “The voices and rights of EU citizens - the impact of the European elections”. This is the second event included in the official events calendar of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union which is organised under the aegis of The Europe NEXT Project. The first one took place in Brussels on December 4-5, 2018.