Verklaring Van Rompuy na bezoeker aan Roemeense president Basescu (en)

EUROPEAN COUNCIL THE PRESIDT

Bucharest, 25 April 2013

EUCO 96/13 PRESSE 169 PR PCE 85

Remarks by President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy i after his meeting with President of Romania Traian Basescu

Can I first of all say that I am very glad to be back in Romania for a working visit as part of my annual "tour des capitales". It is exactly one year since my last visit on 25 April. I should also like to thank President Basescu for his hospitality. Later today I will also meet Prime Minister Ponta

During our meeting we discussed a number of current issues. Allow me to highlight a few points here

Firstly on the economic and social situation in Europe, which remains on the very top of the European agenda. Here there is both good and bad news

The good news is that we are seeing a substantial improvement of the situation with more financial stability in the euro area. Also on the economic and fiscal fronts, do we witness substantial, positive signs. Improved competitiveness, even in the so-called weak economies, increased exports and sounder public finances with significantly smaller public deficits. That is why we can say that the existential threat to the euro is over

The bad news, however, is that the economic crisis is still dragging out. Despite your success in reducing unemployment, the situation around Europe is less good - especially in terms of youth unemployment. That is why we have to work on short term job and growth creation at the same time as we work on improving our sustainable job and growth potential for the longer term

The Youth Employment Initiative with six billion euro, agreed as part of the EU's budget, is one example of what the European Union is doing to create more jobs in the regions most affected by youth employment. I take this opportunity to congratulate Romania on the fiscal consolidation and the results on its way to leave the Excessive Deficit Procedure

The President also informed me on the latest measures taken in response to the January special Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) report by the European Commission. We agreed that it is important for Romania to implement the Commission's recommendations. In particular, I commended the improved cooperation between all political actors and institutions and appealed to accelerate efforts on fighting high-level corruption and safeguarding the independence of the judiciary. A solid judicial system and full commitment to the rule of law will also help to ensure a stable and investment-friendly economic environment

I will work together with the Lithuanian Presidency in the second half of this year to achieve further progress on its way to joining the Schengen area, one of the most important achievements of the European integration

We also discussed the agenda of the next European Council on the 22nd of May, where leaders will discuss taxation and energy

Our Union faces several important challenges when it comes to energy. We have to diversify our energy supply routes and enhance our access to reliable new sources, a policy in which Romania is particularly engaged. We have to improve our gas and electricity interconnections, a domain in which Romania is also very active. We should complete the Internal Energy Market by the end of 2014 - that's already next year. We should explore how we can be more energy efficient. And we should tackle - in a nuanced manner - the challenge of high energy prices, which on the one hand encourage investments in energy infrastructure, but on the other hand hamper our competitiveness and have a huge impact on our citizens, especially the more vulnerable ones

It is also time to make decisive progress on some long standing tax issues, however sensitive tax matters may be. I mean concrete progress, tangible results that can be shown to European citizens. In times of fiscal consolidation, fairness and effectiveness of tax systems are essential. Time is ripe for making progress. To move from words to deeds, there is a need to step up our fight against tax havens; to improve and broaden the scope of the automatic exchange of information; to ensure tax transparency and tax fairness; to better tackle VAT fraud. If we manage to make progress on these and perhaps other elements, the European Union will truly be able to lead by example in tax matters at the global level

Let me end by thanking President Basescu for the award he has bestowed on me. It is a great honour to receive the prestigious "Star of Romania"

EUC