Commissioner Oettinger in Bucharest: Rule of law is an important value of the EU, we are expecting successful presidency of Romania of EU Council

European Commissioner Gunther Oettinger said on Tuesday that the rule of law is an important value of the European Union, showing that it expects Romania to have a successful presidency of the Council of the EU. Generally, the rule of law is an important value of the European Union. Therefore, beyond the independence of lawyers and courts and the number of judges who are independent of governments, the rule of law is the key, and we need to check what we do in several member states, such as Poland. If something goes wrong we can either accept the reform or not. We, the European Commission, must be objective and equitable. Romania is an important country, an important member of the EU and has an impressive development of the economy (…) and we expect a presidency [of the Council of the European Union, ed.n.] that will be a success for Romania and the Union as of January next year, Oettinger said after attending the conference “The Road to Sibiu – A Step Closer” in Bucharest by the European Commission Representation in Romania. He was asked if he is sure of Romania’s success at the presidency of the EU Council in the context of discussions about assuming this role. We are not part of these debates, we have to be objective and neutral, we have to understand, to analyze and if something goes wrong, then we have to address ourselves as my colleague Timmermans and the Commission did and do it in Poland and in Hungary. (…) I am sure that your Government and President are ready to take over the presidency [of the Council of the European Union, ed.n.] and to play an important and successful role, the European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources affirmed.   Oettinger says he wants to contribute, in Brussels, to promoting Romania’s accession to Schengen   The high EC official also stated on Tuesday in Bucharest that we wants to contribute in Brussels to the promotion of Romania’s accession to Schengen and underscored that free movement is one of the European values. The European official said free movement should always be taken into account, adding that the biggest progress Europe made is cross-border movement, which is precisely the reason why he wants to contribute to promoting Romania’s accession to Schengen, in order for Romania to reach the level of joining Schengen, so that either at the airport or on the roads to no longer be different models or intensity of border control. He talked about the efforts that the European Union is making for economic development. He went on saying that the infrastructure must be further optimised cross-border, in order to have an adequate internal EU market where free movement exists. He stressed the needed for infrastructure, as well as the need for an advanced digital fiber optic infrastructure and 5G. EU Commissioner Oettinger attended the “European elections and Brexit 2019: Consequences for the EU and the EU budget” conference, organised by the Representation of Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Romania.