The postponement of the accession to the Schengen Area triggers losses both for Romania and for the French, the Germans and the Dutch, the representatives of the states conducting an economic activity in our country, Foreign Affairs Minister Titus Corlatean said in an interview to France Inter radio station.
‘The freedom of movement, which is a EU fundamental value, exists. It started to exist for us after January 1, 2007. We quite often mix two entirely different things. The illegal migration coming from the outside of the EU is completely different from the freedom of movement inside the EU. We have done our homework. We have allotted over one billion euros for border security, which is functioning. I suggest you take all Frontex European Agency reports to see that 95 percent of the illegal immigration comes through the south border, not through the east border. All of us, we, Romanians, you, French, Germans, Dutch, who have an important economic activity in this country, all of us lose from the economy viewpoint because of this decision on the accession to Schengen,’ Corlatean said, when asked how he saw the postponement of the accession to the free movement area.
He added that Romania changed very much for the better over the past two decades, admitting, at the same time, that ‘there is still much to be done.’
‘We are not perfect, but today’s Romania is entirely different from Romania of 20 — 15 years ago. (…) We want things to improve as soon as possible, but we have actually made progress. There is still much to be done, but our belonging to a European family is a special matter: we repaired a page of history that was very painful to us, Romanians, same as it was to the Bulgarians, the Hungarians, the Czechs, the Slovaks and the Polish. It was a legit matter,’ Corlatean said.
About the European funds absorption, he showed that Romania registered progress in 2013, after a period during which it had a low rate also because of the weak preparation in this area.
‘We began our European course after January 1, 2007, in a more difficult manner compared with others. I do not want to criticize other governments, but we were not very well prepared, after the signing of the Accession Treaty, for the actual accession moment after the document’s ratification. That is why this area of structural funds, the absorption did not evolve very well over the first years,’ Corlatean maintained.
He also spoke of the Roma people issue, pointing out that a European authority was needed to manage this issue. ‘We must have an institutional structure to coordinate these efforts. There is no European Agency for the Roma people issue. Maybe we can achieve this in the future,’ Corlatean said. AGERPRES
