Romania and the European Union.

Holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union

Romania is in the process of prepearing the presidency of the Council of the EU,a position which will be
held for six months,starting from January 1st 2019,in a period defined by both high responsability for the
future of the EU,along with the ending of the Brexit,and also by a symbolic period in which the
Europeans will get the feeling of unity,solidarity and of common future.

Holding this mandate,for the very first time by our country,will not only represent a new challenge but
also a big opportunity. Romania will be at the heart of the European decision-making process, playing a
key-role in facilitating the process of reflection on how to develop and consolidate the European project,
the negotiation process for the development of the community aquis thus, to strengthen cooperation
among the member states of the Union.Taking over the presidency of the EU Council for the next six
months is an obligation which results from the membership and implies a huge effort in the direction of
consolidating a national vision of the EU’s future increasing the administrative capacity needed to
exercise this mandate. In exercising this mandate, the Romanian presidency of the council of Europe must
act as an impartial mediator,in charge of the progress of the council negotiations regarding the union’s
law, for ensuring the continuity of the European agenda and for the good cooperation between the
Member States and the European institutions.Yet,as a president of the Council of the EU,Romania will
have the chance to imprint its national vision upon strategic debates regarding the future of the European
project,to directly contribute in its consolidation and to promote in the European agenda some files that
our country believes to be important. Romania’s presidency at the council of the EU will take place in a
complex European and international context ,while its political agenda will be closely linked to the
evolution of major union-level files. At the moment, the most visible of them, apart from the ordinary
legislative files, seem mainly to be,the Brexit process and the multiannual financial framework. To ensure
the continuity of the Council activity over a longer period of time, the member states that hold the office
work together, in groups of 3,which are called trio presidency. Romania will open the trio of presidency,
where Finland and Croatia are also present.The coordination The coordination of the procedures and
processes over a period of 18 months is vital for the successful implementation of the strategic objectives
of the council of the EU,thus the success of negotiations of legislative initiatives in an interinstitutional
format.In this context,the cooridination is the greatest concern, within the work of the trio of presidents,
with the priorities set by the European Council, with the political objectives defined by the European
Parliament and with the work program of the European Commission. Romania started the road to the EU
on February 1st 1993, when the association agreement between Romania and the European Union was
signed and came into force 2 years later. Romania officially submitted its application for membership of
the union in June 1995, and in December 1999 the council of the EU decided to open the accession
negotiations with Romania, along with six other states. The negotiations were officially opened on 15th
February 2000. The accession negotiations were concluded at a technical level at the Ministerial
Accession Conference of 14 December 2004, a decision confirmed by the European Council in Bruxelles
on 16-17 December of the same year. At the same time, the Council also reaffirmed the accession
calendar: April 2005 – signing the Accession Treaty; January 1st 2007 – the actual accession.Between
1998 and 2006,the European Comission annually presented the evaluation documents on Romania’s path
towards the European integration, which were of 2 types: records regarding the stage of the preparations
in the view of accession and, respectively, after signing the accession treaty, comprehensive monitoring
reports which presented the state of fulfillment of the commitments made by Romania in the accession
negotiations. On 25 april 2005, in Luxembourg, the the Treaty of Accession of Romania and Bulgaria to
the EU was signed by Romania and Bulgaria and by the representatives of the members states of the
union.Consequently, Romania became member state with full rights of the EU starting January 1st 2007.
Romania is represented within the institutions and organs of the EU – Council of the EU, European
Commission, European Parliament, European Economic and Social Committee, European Committee of
the Regions, the European Court of Justice, Court of Auditors, - through elected members, since its
accession.

EU and the migration crisis

Migration is a common phenomenon in the history of humanity. Those who are now trying to reach
European shores have various reasons and choose different ways. The majority is looking for legal ways
to get rid of the political oppression, war and poverty or to find again their family and improve their
professional and educational perspectives.But often they put their life in danger.Between 2015 and 2016,
the EU faced an unprecedented influx of refugees and migrants.More than 1 million of persons came to
the EU,most of them running from the war and terror in Syria and other countries. The EU proposed a
series of measures to deal with the crisis. Among these there are the efforts to solve the profound causes
of the crisis, as well as increasing aid to people in need of humanitarian assistance, both in the EU as well
as outside the EU. Measures are taken to relocate the asylum seekers that are already in Europe, the
resettlement of the persons in distress from the neighbour countries and the return of those who do not
qualify the conditions for asylum. The EU is improving the borders security, fighting against migrants
traffic and offering safe ways of entering its territory. Many persons who need international protection
arrive in the EU to seek asylum.The international protection is only given to those who are living their
mother land and are unable to return there because of the well-founded fear that they will be persecuted or
exposed to the risk of suffering serious injuries.EU has the legal and the moral obligation to protect those
in need. The member states are responsible for the examination of the asylum applications, deciding who
will benefit of the protection.Especially,the Comission is making constant efforts to ensure that adequate
child protection measures are taken. This is an increasingly stringent problem, as the number of migrant
children, especially those unaccompanied, is increasing. These children are extremely vulnerable and
need special attention.But not all of those entering the Europa need protection.Many of them are leaving
their country in the attempt to make their lives better. They are often named economic migrants and, if
their application for protection it is not legitime, the national governments have the obligation to return
them in their country of origin or in another safe country they had transited.Thousands of people lost their
life at sea in their attempt to get in the EU. Almost 90% of the refugees and migrants payed members of
groups of organized crimes and human traffickers to cross the border. The food, water and shelter supply
for these persons puts and enourmous pressure on the resources of some member states of the EU, such as
Greece and Italy, the countries through which most of the refugees and migrants enter the EU. In the
Schengen area, citizens can circulate freely, without checkings at the internal borders, but the influx of
migrants made some member states to temporary reintroduce checkings at their borders with other
countries in the Schengen area. In the last 20 years, the EU has applied some of the highest common
standards in the world regarding asylum. Moreover, in the past 2 years, the European policy in the
migration area evolved quickly at the same level with the implementation of the European agenda on
migration, proposed by the European commission in May 2015

EU increased its ability to conduct search and rescue operations in the Mediteranean sea and to combat
the criminal records. Tripling available resources contributed to the rescue of more than 400.000 life in
2015 and 2016. More than 2000 traffickers and persons who introduced illegal migrants were caught and
375 ships removed.

The EU collaborates with the 5 main countries of origin and transit in Africa (Ethiopia, Mali, Niger,
Nigeria and Senegal). For instance, the cooperation between the EU and Niger contributes to the
reduction of the transit flow via Sahara dessert. The EU funding supports those who carry out
independent activities in the transit zones and 6 centres for vulnerable migrants, as well as the efforts to
combat the illegal introduction of migrants and human trafficking.

The EU-Turkey declaration signed in March 2016 aims to stop uncontrolled flows of migrants in the
Aegean Sea area.Moreover, it also provides legal ways through which the refugees can enter Europe.As a
consequence, the number of migrants and refugees that come from Turkey has been reduced significantly.
After October 2015, when a record number of 10000 arrivals in a single day was recorded, starting march
2016 the arrivals in Greece have risen up, on average, to less than 74 per day. EU and Turkey have agreed
that the migrants in irregular situation that come from Turkey and arrive in the Greek islands and who
didnt apply for asylum or whose application has been rejected ,have to return to Turkey. For each Syrian
national returned in Turkey, after they had illegally crossed into the Greek islands, the EU will accept
another Syrian national from Turkey who had not tried to enter properly its territory. Until 21 july 2017,
7807 Syrian refugees had been relocated from Turkey in the EU under this agreement.