The European People’s Party, the largest European political family, continues the # EPPLocalDialogue series in Arad on Friday as part of the EPP Grassroots Engagement at local and regional level launched in March in Sofia.
Under the heading “Europe starts in Arad”, on Friday, October 5, citizens will discuss the future of Europe, along with the president of the National Liberal Party, Ludovic Orban, EPP CoR Group Vice-President Franz Schausberger and Mayor of Arad, Gheorghe Falcă, member of the National Delegation of Romania to the CoR.
The event will begin at 12:00, being broadcast on Calea Europeană, and will be moderated by journalist Dan Cărbunaru, Director of the Calea Europeană.
“We want to give our citizens the chance to make their voice heard and listen to their concerns and fears, but also the expectations of our common European future. European people have always protected the development of the United Europe and we want to make sure that the benefits of our policies are felt and effective in all regions of the EU, “said EPP-CoR President Michael Schneider at the launch of the campaign.
On 9 March 2018, the European People’s Party, together with Political Party GERB of Bulgaria, launched an EPP Grassroots Engagement in view of the 2019 European Elections.
This engagement, stemming from EPP regional and local leaders, aims to restore trust in the EU and increase ownership of the European project by reconnecting with local people and giving them a say on European issues ahead of the European Elections in 2019.
The first EPP Local Dialogue took place on 9 March, directly after the launch of the Grassroots Engagement. During a debate on the theme „Europe Starts in Sofia – Youth perspectives and the future of Europe”,citizens living and working in Sofia had the chance to share their views on Europe. The dialogue was co-moderated by Calea Europeană’s Director Dan Cărbunaru.
After the launch in Bulgaria, another high-level event is planned in Austria in December 2018.
The Summit of Regional and Local Leaders, with the participation of the EPP Spitzenkandidat, is envisaged to be the highpoint of the engagement and will take in Romania in 14-15 March of 2019, just before the European elections in May 2019.
Also, the EPP local dialogue precedes the #SOTREG 2018, State of the Union: the view of Regions and Cities address, a speech held by the President of the European Committee of the Regions within the European Week of Regions and Cities frame, which will also mark the approval of CoR opinion on the future of Europe.
Reflecting on Europe survey
Moreover, in the context of the “Reflecting on Europe” initiative, the European Committee of the Regions launched a survey in 2016 on the main issues that people identify in the city or the region they live in.
At both European Union and Romanian level, unemployment, youth policies and mobility and public transport are considered the three main issues at local and regional level.
In Romania, the three mentioned problems have been classified by citizens as followed: 28% of them consider that mobility and public transportation is the main problem at local and regional level, while for 23% the main challenge is represented by youth policies and also, 23% see unemployment as the main issue. A particular concern, underlined by a significant score, is the issue of environment, where 21% of the Romanian citizens see it among the main problems within their communities.
The European Committee of the Regions invite Romanian citizens to share their view on the future of Europe (Fill the survey by clicking the image below and mention that you have learned about ”Reflecting on Europe” through a EPP Local Dialoge)
Robert Lupițu este redactor-șef, specialist în relații internaționale, jurnalist în afaceri europene și NATO. Robert este laureat al concursului ”Reporter și Blogger European” la categoria Editorial și co-autor al volumelor ”România transatlantică” și ”100 de pași pentru o cetățenie europeană activă”. Face parte din Global Shapers Community, o inițiativă World Economic Forum, și este Young Strategic Leader în cadrul inițiativelor The Aspen Institute. Din 2019, Robert este membru al programului #TT27 Leadership Academy organizat de European Political Strategy Center, think tank-ul Comisiei Europene.
MEP Vasile Blaga (PNL, EPP) argues that the goal of a green economy cannot be achieved without gas and nuclear energy as transition fuels. He also said it isimportant for Romania to support the European Commission’s proposal to include gas and nuclear energy on the list of transitional fuels.
According to the MEP, Romania, both through the voice of President Iohannis and Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă, has taken a position in favour of the European Commission’s proposal to include gas and nuclear energy on the list of transitional fuels.
“The context of the war in Ukraine, however, has given rise to voices in the European Parliament but also in other quarters who argue that the inclusion of gas in the delegated act would directly support Russia and its gas exports,” he added.
“It is an interpretation that creates a causal chain between two elements that are only circumstantially connected. The fact that gas is still considered a transition fuel to green energy does not mean that there is no gas other than that imported from Russia. Basically, the conflict in Ukraine is being used as an opportunity to reject a balanced and moderate vision of the transition to green energy”, said the Romanian MEP for www.caleaeuropeana.ro.
“Some colleagues who already had a position contrary to that of the Commission saw the conflict in Ukraine as an opportunity to argue. It is categorically false. We cannot achieve the goal of a green economy without gas and nuclear energy as transitional fuels. In any case, it is in Romania’s direct interest to support the European Commission’s proposal”, concluded MEP Vasile Blaga.
MEP Vasile Blaga (PNL, EPP) welcomes the fact that the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine have obtained the status of candidate states: “It represents the certainty that both will be members of the European Union, a huge step for the two candidate states, but also for the European Union.”
According to the MEP, the vote in the European Parliament and the decision in the Council say one thing: “the decisions are not symbolic gestures of consolation but certify that Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova will be part of the European family.”
He draws attention to the pro-Russian rhetoric that downplays the impact of these decisions: “To those who promote these ideas we say simply: the road of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova is a one-way street. At the end of the road lies integration into the European Union. It is, of course, a road that will require sustained efforts on the part of both candidate countries, but also on the part of the EU institutions.”
“Romania has used all institutional means to ensure that the Republic of Moldova is not decoupled from Ukraine in this decision. It was vital that the two states were granted the status of candidates for EU membership as a package. This is an extraordinary outcome that is well worth mentioning”, he added.
MEP Vasile Blaga (PNL, EPP) reaffirms his support for a fair green transition for Romania, in which gas and nuclear energy are accepted in order to achieve the objectives set by the European Ecological Pact.
The European Parliament hosted yesterday, 30 May, a public hearing whose guests were several experts who debated, together with members of the two committees ECON and ENVI, the inclusion of gas and nuclear energy in the taxonomy of the European Union. Many of the opinions expressed push the debate towards a rejection of the European Commission’s proposal of March whereby nuclear energy and gas are considered, under certain conditions, green.
I reaffirm my support for the version proposed by the European Commission. There are many reasons why gas and nuclear energy should be considered transitional in order to achieve the objectives set by the European Green Pact. One of the reasons, and perhaps the most important one, relates to the realities on the ground in each Member State. France has a significant share of nuclear power, just as Germany is heavily dependent on gas. The decisions that the European Union needs to implement in order to achieve the objectives – already set and agreed by all Member States – need to be balanced first and foremost”, EPP MEP Vasile Blaga told European Way.
“Countries like Romania or Poland need a realistic transition towards the targets set by the Green Pact. Cohesion and solidarity in the European Union means that each Member State must take into account the other and, as a whole, decisions must not ignore any reality, be it further West or further East”, added the EPP MEP.
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