PM Dancila: I asked Dutch premier for support for Romania's accession to Schengen, not to be related to CVM

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila Wednesday asked her Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte, the Netherlands' support for Romania's accession to the Schengen Area, highlighting that our country meets the technical criteria for accession and that this topic mustn't be related to the issue of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) . 

"I strongly believe Romania deserves to be in the Schengen Area and we mustn't relate the issue of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism to the Schengen criteria. In conclusion, in the discussion with Prime Minister Mark Rutte, I have underlined the considerable potential for further development of a dynamic bilateral relationship in the interest of our citizens. I do not wish to talk about internal political disputes, I consider these can exist in all EU member states. The important thing for me is that you trust the capacity of the Executive in Bucharest to correctly fulfill its mandate, that we have the best possible bilateral relations at European level," Viorica Dancila affirmed during the joint statements at Victoria Palace alongside the Netherlands' Prime Minister. 

The Romanian premier pointed out that it is a Dutch premier's first visit to Romania in the last 15 years, and the dialogue aimed at "expanding bilateral relations in such domains as investments, research and development or defence cooperation." 

""The Netherlands is among the first foreign investors in Romania and the presence of the Dutch companies in our country is on the rise. I have presented the Dutch premier the new investment framework in Romania, the adoption of the public procurement law and the public private partnership law. We talked about new domains of bilateral sectoral cooperation, such as research and innovation agriculture, defence and security. At the same time, cooperation in the naval industry is a reference point for our bilateral cooperation," Dancila further said. 

The head of the Executive in Bucharest added that another topic for discussion aimed at the European agenda, in the context of Romania having reached the homestretch for the taking over and exercising of the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first semester of the next year. 

"On this day, when the President of the European Commission gave a speech about the state of the Union, it is becoming to talk about Europe's future. Given that Romania's Presidency is the one to conclude the 2014-2019 Strategic Agenda, we deem necessary all member states' support of the consolidated European design. Romania will get involved on this path in the future as well, having constantly shown a pro-European stance," Dancila said. 

She added that another file discussed with her Dutch counterpart is the one regarding negotiations about the EU's future budget. 

"One of the files that we have talked about refers to negotiations on the European Union's future budget, for 2021-2027. In this context, I have underlined the importance of defining a balanced budget, that would uphold the Union's objectives and provide adequate financing to domains that lead to growth and convergence, by answering at the same time the new challenges the European Union is up against. Moreover, I have reiterated Romania's interest in actively supporting the advance of the European files aiming the EU's internal security," Dancila also stated.