Romania is part of the European Union, not an annex and if in some cases the Romanians fail to impose their point of view, it is probably because they have not made the effort to understand well enough how things work, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said Sunday in an interview for Radio Romania News, Agerpre reports.
He addressed the comments in the press that he was sent from Brussels with "a team of people there to impose Brussels’s will on Romania".
"If such statements still catch on it means that the seven eight years which have passed since the accession have been almost useless in the sense that we have not yet understood what we have requested in Romania, which is to be part of the European Union, has happened that we do not accept things that we have asked of since the 90’s onwards.
Romania is part of the EU and it is not an annex of the European Union - and if in some cases we cannot impose our point of view that is probably because we have not made the effort to understand well enough how things work and see, for example, why Poland can better impose its point of view than Romania there, and I know other new members, because I do not see what interest would the European Union have as long as Romania has the votes there and is part of the European Union to impose something on Romania, "Ciolos explained.
He stressed that Romania wanted to be part of the European Union because it wanted that the Romanian society develop in a certain direction.
"I think it is important to understand that if we wanted to be part of the European Union, it is because we wanted the Romanian society to evolve in a certain direction. When we consider that the European Union has some rules that do not correspond with our beliefs with our goals, it is important not to stay just in front of a microphone in the press in Romania and to criticize the EU, but to use all the tools at our disposal with dignity, firmly, clearly, looking for our allies within the European Union and explain those things, " Ciolos added.
"The prime minister criticized the idea circulated in the public space that during the time he served as European Commissioner for Agriculture he had not worked for Romania and emphasized that the application of the Common Agricultural Policy has meant less money for Western countries and more for countries in the East.
"In other words, the budget was reduced from one year to another and, on the other hand, Romania and other countries in Eastern Europe earned money, so the budget allocation increased. Sure there is still a difference in grants, but what I could do was to begin to change the trend.
These things, unfortunately, are not being told. Sure, I do not want anybody to praise me or say that I have done wonders there. I have not done wonders. I did what the post of Commissioner asked me.
I kept account of the place I came from, I knew what the needs were here and as much as I was able to I made these changes, which I assume, but certainly it hurts me and my soul when I see not only that some people lie, but that honest people, honest people believe it without checking, because it would be sufficient for people to check, to search the internet and see what actually happened, " Ciolos said.