President Klaus Iohannis said on Friday that Romania wants a fair approach to jobs at European level.
“We will discuss today how we can act in order to have more jobs, especially for young people. In this context, I will emphasise the importance of this theme to Romania, but also our approach, which I would summarise: we want a fair approach. We do not want to have European policies that discriminate against certain parts of the continent (…) On the other hand, and I will emphasise it very clearly, we are advocating for education that is adjusted to the needs of the economy and then we will surely find the best ways to create jobs for young people, on the one hand, and to train young people to successfully enter the labour market, on the other, ” Iohannis said before attending the Social Summit for Fair Jobs and Growth in Gothenburg.
He said the Gotheburg talks in the second part of the day, to be held in the format of a European summit, will focus on education and culture.
“It is very important for us to continue to encourage European programmes that have produced exceptional results for Romanians as well, such as the Erasmus programme – a programme that has been attended by many young Romanian students, who were been able to study in various universities across Europe, a programme in support of student mobility. We believe that these concepts need to be expanded and promoted; on the other hand, I believe that Romania is a country where culture is written in capital letters, and in this respect we will support any approach that is intended for the mobility of artists, people working in the cultural field,” said Iohannis, according to Agerpres.
He added that there would also be informal talks on Brexit.
“There will also be informal Brexit talks, informal like at the coffee break, for example, because they are not on the summit agenda, nor on the working lunch agenda,” said Iohannis.
“I don’t believe in CVM being lifted for Romania in 2018”
Romania’s President said in Gotheburg on Friday that he does not believe in the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) being lifted for Romania in 2018, saying that that the optimism displayed by the country’s ruling coalition in this regard is “at least inappropriate.”
“I do not think so, and I believe their optimism on display is at least inappropriate,” said Iohannis.
The report published on Wednesday by the European Commission on Romania’s progress with judicial reform concludes that Romania can fulfill its objective of having the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) lifted before the tenure of the incumbent European Commission ends in 2018, Justice Minister Tudorel Toader said Wednesday.
“I have presented the conclusion of the report, which is positive, that Romania can fulfill its objective of having the CVM lifted before the tenure of the incumbent European Commission ends (…) I have taken note of the commission’s assessment of the progress made by Romania with meeting the recommendations made in January 2017. It is a milestone report, which is very important to underline, is a progress report, a report tracing progress from the previous similar report of January 2017. The report highlights many of Romania’s progress from January 2017, providing a basis for the Commission’s conclusion on Romania meeting all the CVM recommendations in the near future, with 2018 being a possible time horizon. It is also the commitment that we have made that when taking over the presidency of the Council of the European Unions in early 2019, Romania will no longer be under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism,” Toader said at a news conference.
Iohannis on Dragnea’s new case: Criminally investigated persons should not be ruling the state
President Klaus Iohannis stated on Friday , when asked if Speaker of the Deputies’ Chamber Liviu Dragnea should resign in the context of his new case with the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), that persons who are under criminal investigations should not be ruling the state.
“I have expressed myself a very long time ago. From the start, the persons who have been criminally sentenced or who are under criminal investigations should not be at the leadership of the state,” the head of state said, prior to participating in the Social Summit on fair jobs and economic increase promotion, in Gothenburg.
Speaker of the Deputies Chamber Liviu Dragnea is criminally investigated by prosecutors of DNA for establishing a criminal group, abuse of office and financial improprieties committed in the “Tel Drum” case while he was president of the Teleorman County Council.
According to a DNA release, Liviu Dragnea, President of Teleorman County Council at that date, is being investigated for establishing a criminal group, for two offenses of use or presentation with bad faith of false documents or false, inaccurate or incomplete statements, if the act has resulted in unfairly obtaining European funds and for two offenses of abuse of office for gaining benefits for himself or another.
