Romanian PM discusses EU budget, CVM and Green Deal with the EC President. Von der Leyen: ‘The EC endorses you’

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has met the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Thursday and they have tackled such topics as the EU budget, the CVM, Schengen or the Green Deal.

“Romania is a serious partner, a responsible partner, committed to reach the EU objectives and implement the regulations adopted by the European institutions. We would like the cohesion policy to receive the same amount of attention, and also the agricultural policy. Moreover, on the Green Deal, we want a special focus to be given to every country and also financial support so that every country in the EU will be able to reach the Green Deal objectives, as this is a very important project of the European Commission,”  PM Orban had told press conference he held jointly with the President of the European Commission, before their meeting.

Orban mentioned that Romania has met all the requirements to join Schengen and voiced hope the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) is concluded as soon as possible.

“At the level of the European Commission, and at the level of the European Parliament, there is support for Romania, for Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area“, said Ludovic Orban.

“Things are quite clear. Important events took place in Romania that changed our country profoundly and the realities in the country for the better. It is also very clear that both the Romanian President and the Government in Bucharest are deeply committed to reaching the above mentioned objectives,” said the PM, while adding that Romania is set to take determine steps to convince the member states that are not on our country’s side on the Schengen issue.

“We still need to take steps, in the end, to reach a consensus at the European Council level. There still are no blatant opposition, yet attitudes of lack of support for this objective, which I am convinced will change in favor of Romania in a reasonable time frame,” the Romanian prime minister pointed out.

In her turn, the President of the European Commission, Ursual von der Leyen stated that her Commission is endorsing Romania on its path for justice reform, which is ‘an action with many challenges’.

“The European Commission is supporting you and we have already started to discuss the topics of common interest, be it the Green Deal or the development of economy. Moreover, we will discuss how the European Union can prepare itself for the digital era and I count on Romania’s support in this field since you have a great reputation in this area,” Ursula von der Leyen said.