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President Iohannis: France and EU need Eastern Europe in order to relaunch the European project
President Klaus Iohannis stated on Thursday that France and the European Union (EU) need Eastern Europe in order to relaunch the European project, pointing out that Romania is a trustworthy partner.
"In the past decade since Romania's accession to the EU, we have faced an acute economic and financial crisis, with the exodus of hundreds of thousands of refugees and terrorist threat, that also hit France so tragically. We, Romanians believe that we have never been more powerful than when we were united. We are convinced that in this Europe, as marked by different East-West cleavages and positions as it is, the cohesion between the EU states is still possible. France and the European Union need Eastern Europe in order to relaunch the European project, and Romania is that trustworthy, stable and predictable partner in the region you can rely on," Iohannis told the reception organised in honour of his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
He assured France's President of Romania's determination to work for the re-launching of the European project.
According to Reuters correspondent, French President Emmanuel Macron got lukewarm support from Romania on Thursday for his push to tighten EU rules over the employment abroad of workers from low-pay countries, but enough for him to express confidence of a deal by year-end.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said the concerns of countries in the east needed addressing, as well as those of the west, but gave no details on what he would deem acceptable after meeting Macron.
Macron wants to overhaul a system which allows "posted" workers to work in other European Union countries on contracts that need only guarantee the host country's minimum wage, and allow taxes and social charges to be paid in the home nation.
He says the system creates unfair competition in wealthier nations like France and Germany.
"I'm convinced we can reach an agreement before the end of the year," Macron told a joint news conference.
Although "posted" workers make up only 1 percent of the EU workforce, the politically sensitive issue, which in recent years has deepened the divide between the rich west and poor east, is a first step in the French leader's drive to re-shape Europe.
"It is very important to avoid useless simplification," Iohannis said. "On the one hand, there is discontent in France over undeclared workers, on the other hand there are many people in Eastern Europe, in Romania, who want to work in France, Germany, Spain.
"It is clear the directive needs to be improved."
On Wednesday, Macron won the backing of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, scoring a symbolic victory over the eurosceptic governments of Poland and Hungary which have led efforts in the region to block reform of the labor directive.