Minister-delegate for European Affairs Ana Birchall said on Friday that ensuring a proper space for Romania’s Permanent Representation to the European Union “is a key element in Romania’s holding the Presidency of the EU Council.”
Ana Birchall’s statement comes in the context in which the Government adopted on Thursday a Memorandum validating the solution identified and proposed by the especially setup committee within the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) and tasked Romania’s Permanent Representation to the European Union with starting the negotiations for renting a new seat in Brussels, to be used during Romania’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in the first half of 2019.
“Ensuring a proper space in terms of logistics and representation is a key element in Romania’s holding the Presidency of the EU Council. Under yesterday’s decision, we have entered the final stretch of solving an essential matter in the perspective of 2019. A successful Presidency of the EU Council is, probably, Romania’s most important project, after the accession to NATO and the integration in the European Union. It is a priority in our governance programme, as it provides us with the opportunity of strengthening Romania’s European profile, as a mature and responsible state,” Birchall said, according to a MAE release sent on Friday.
According to MAE, the selection took into account the price, area, state of the building, facilities, the number of parking spaces, the proximity to the EU Council and the space configuration.
The committee proposes the building on 107 Cortenbergh Avenue, which was used by Slovakia during its EU Council Presidency, in the second half of 2016.
