PM Ciolos: Romania will insist upon the need to treat the migration causes and have a better European Union's border security

Romania will insist at the European Council next week upon the need to treat the migration causes and have a better European Union's border security, yet maintains its reservations about the setting up of a permanent relocation mechanism of the refugees in the EU space, on Tuesday told the Parliament the Prime Minister, Dacian Ciolos. "The main topic will be about migration, a matter with political sensitiveness which worries the member states right now. It is a real test for the European Union to display not only its solidarity, but also its capacity to make decisions on sensitive topics. So far, the measures were focused on the effects of migration and less on the causes. The core element of the mandate we propose you is that Romania continues to insist on the need to treat the migration's causes, to understand them well and to find measures to keep the migration's causes under control," said Ciolos at the talks he held within the joint parliamentary committees for European affairs. He also stressed the need to ensure a better EU borders' security in parallel with the migration's control in the origin zones. "Here we have the two relocation and distribution migrants' centres, too. It is necessary that they are functional so we could enforce the decisions that were already made by the Council in connection with the relocations. Romania withholds to a permanent relocation mechanism, which would not solve the basic problem, but the causes only," the Prime Minister added. He specified that as regards the fight against terrorism, another topic on the European Council's agenda Romania will "actively" support the measures of combating this phenomenon, "including by strengthening the tools of information exchange among the member states to keep the suspects under control." "On the long term, we suggest measures to ensure a better social, economic, cultural integration and the avoidance of radicalization from this outlook. Romania supports and even participates in a tight police cooperation to gathering specific information from this point of view and also in this context, we will underline the importance to maintain, strengthen and give credibility to the Schengen area," Ciolos added. Referring to another issue that is to be tackled at the Council, namely the strengthening of the economic and monetary union, Ciolos said as regards the measures considered in this respect, that Romania will insist on a consultation of all member states, including the measures aiming at the Eurozone only. "It is important to us that the strengthening of the Eurozone is not done detrimentally to the member states that wish to join it," explained the Premier. The joint parliamentary committees for European affairs endorsed in a 28 to two vote and one abstention on Tuesday the mandate on which Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos will take part in the European Council's meeting next week. Ciolos will go to the Council meeting with a mandate in which the same elements of position and representation have been maintained, said Social Democrat deputy Ana Birchall, who chairs the Committee in the Deputies' Chamber, after the meeting attended by the prime minister. "If the issue of permanent relocation mechanisms [for refugees] is raised, reserve will be showed. Solutions should be searched for in the countries of origin and of transit, since this is, in fact, the basic solution. As regards the fight against terrorism, common efforts for increasing border safety should be continued and as regards the mandate for the sanctions imposed Russia, the mandate presented by the prime minister of Romania and endorsed by us is to vote for maintaining the sanctions until the implementation of the provisions of Minsk Accord", Birchall explained. On the relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union, the Committee chair stressed Romania "will be an advocate for the UK's staying in the EU, because the Union is richer with Britain inside than outside". According to Liberal deputy Ludovic Orban, Senate Speaker Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, at a joint meeting of the Parliament's Bureaus on Monday, also insisted there should be a debate and approval of the prime minister's mandate in the plenary sitting of the Romanian legislature even if the joint European Affairs Committees endorse the draft mandate put forward by Ciolos. President Klaus Iohannis delegated Prime Minister Ciolos to take part in the European Council meeting in Brussels, on Dec. 17 and 18.