What did Chancellor Merkel say about Romanians working in Germany?
Romanian prime minister Dacian Cioloș on Thursday paid the most important foreign visit of his mandate so far, to Berlin to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“We are glad to have PM Cioloș here today. Romania is an extremely important partner to us within EU, NATO. We also have an emotional tie due to the Transylvania Saxon and Swabish communities. We have very good economic relations with Romania, we are the third biggest investor,” Chancellor Merkel said, while revealing they also discussed about how can the economic ties could be improved. “We aim at identifying all relations of the business environment. We also talked about the rule of law, the judiciary system, I saw there was progress on countering corruption and that the Cioloș Government is prevalently going for this topic, that it wants to obtain the Romanian population’s welfare,” Merkel added.
In his turn, PM Dacian Cioloș stated that Germany is a strategic partner for Romania, with bilateral relations being strong on business. “The volume of commercial exchanges is high, there are extremely active companies on the Romanian market. We talked about the priorities of the two countries. We want an improved judiciary system, transparency for the business environment. My intention is to pay one more visit to Germany in the spring to also enhance cooperation with the German states,” Cioloș said.
He went on saying that Romania would like to be part of a ‘solid’ Schengen Area. “Regarding the refugees topic, you know our stance, we are open to dialogue, we hear what other states are saying (…) Romania has made extremely big efforts on fighting corruption. Besides the admission’s technical process, the Government will continue efforts to counter corruption so that progress should be also found in the EC report. We hope it will also lead to actually joining Schengen in the ucpoming period. We want a secured, solid Schengen area,” Cioloș pointed out.
According to the Romanian premier, Romania wants to be a proactive member in the EU, which would involve a better dialogue and communication with the other members states, Germany included, Cioloș arguing that Berlin is one of the “keys” and “engines” of the process of institutional transformation and of finding solutions.
Also asked how actual is Schengen topic and if Romania is technically ready for admission, Chancellor Merkel answered: “I think the Schengen project is actual, very actual. We must solve the illegal migration problem. Internal border checks are temporary and are part of the Schengen agreements. I believe Schengen is highly estemeed by the European citizens, but it’s also a very good tool for economic growth. It’s correct that Romania has done a lot of efforts to defend the borders, however we wait for the European Commission’s next report on corruption.”
Dacian Cioloș is also to meet the Bundestag and Bundesrat representatives, while in the evening he will have an encounter with the representatives of the Romanian diaspora living in Germany.
Referring to the Romanians intending to work in Germany, Merkel said they are welcome in Germany, but those who want to benefit of social insurance services without having a job must address to the country of origin, explaining that EU doesn’t work as ‘a social union.’
“We can work all around Europe, but this intention doesnțt include the fact that we can receive social insurance services from the first day,” Merkel said.