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Chancellor Angela Merkel's joint press conference with Romania's Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos in Berlin
Chancellor Angela Merkel says she is waiting for the next Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) report of the European Commission on Romania, but she appreciates Romania's efforts to secure its outer borders to join the Schengen Area.
"We must do everything we can to keep the Schengen system, and of course allow the countries who want to join the Schengen Area to do so, and it is important that Romania has taken many steps to secure its outer borders. There is a context of fight against corruption, and thus we expect to see the next [European] Commission report. We know the topic is on Romania's agenda, thus I promise that the efforts made will be mirrored by progress on the admission into the Schengen system, which can be gradual," Merkel asserted in a joint press conference with Romania's Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos on Thursday.
On the same occasion during his official visit to Berlin, Ciolos revealed that he discussed in detail the Schengen matters with the German chancellor, and he voiced his hope that the CVM report will include the positive evolution in Romania's anti-corruption efforts over the past years.
"In fighting corruption, Romania has made significant efforts over these past years; they start to be visible in the society, beyond the technical process. The incumbent government is committed to carry on this positive trend in the fight against corruption, and we expect the next Cooperation and Verification Mechanism report of the European Commission to include these positive evolution. Then it would be, I think, the third positive report to confirm this positive trend, and we hope this will impact the decision the member states should make soon about Romania's accession to the Schengen Area. We don't just want to join Schengen, we want to join a sound and credible Schengen," the prime minister stressed.
Answering German media questions on welfare granted only to those who have already worked in Germany for one year, Merkel mentioned that Romanians are welcome to work in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel declared on Thursday; she mentioned, however, that only those who work should get social welfare.
"A person who has not worked in Germany getting social welfare - this is not the purpose of free movement. Being allowed to work wherever in Europe - this intention does not involve getting social welfare from day one. (...) We have a difficult situation in Europe: we have an internal market, we want free movement, but we also have different social systems, and of course any Romanian who works here is welcome. Many Romanians are coming lately to Germany, but when it comes to social welfare not based on activity, on work, I think, of course, that such a person should return to their country. We are not a social union; we have different social systems; this must also appear in the legislation, and we must find a solution."
Enhanced economic relations require further improvement of Romanian judiciary system
Chancellor Angela Merkel says German-Romanian economic relations should get a boost this spring, if Romania further improves its judiciary system and fights corruption."This spring we will have several activities to boost the economic relations. There is a condition, however — and we discussed it [with Romania's Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos]: the legal system, the judiciary system must be further improved, and corruption must be combatted. There were some considerable successes lately, and Mr. Dacian Ciolos's government (...) is working vigorously on this task, which is a very important condition," Chancellor Merkel asserted in a joint press conference with the Romanian prime minister.
On the same occasion, PM Ciolos said that "Germany is a partner of strategic importance for Romania."
"Germany is Romania's first economic partner, with 20 percent of Romania's trade, over 20 billion euros per year. (...) We have discussed the priorities of my cabinet for this year, which focus firstly on reforming the administration and making it more efficient, on a vision of long-term economic development and on the maximum possible predictability in terms of legislation, taxes and finances," the prime minister declared.
He added that he is going to return to Germany this spring "for a more practical visit in some Laenders" to stimulate the bilateral economic cooperation.