Prime minister Marcel Ciolacu announced that he put forward the name of Social Democrat MEP Victor Negrescu as Romania's proposal for the position of EU Commissioner. He also said that an official nomination from the Romanian government is to be made by early next week. Negrescu is vice-president of the European Parliament.

The Romanian head of government made the announcement in Brussels on Thursday, August 22, after a meeting with the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. The two officials discussed several other topics of interest, including Romania's Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and ways to cut the budget deficit.

"As for the commissioner position, it's not the first time I've said it, I went with a name. He is the current vice-president of the European Parliament, Mr. Victor Negrescu. Naturally, we also made a calendar, and I hope that we will submit the proposal from the Romanian government no later than Monday," prime minister Ciolacu said, quoted by Agerpres.

He added that he would also discuss the EU Commissioner nomination with Liberal leader and ruling coalition partner Nicolae Ciucă, as well as with president Klaus Iohannis.

The deadline for putting forward names for the next European Commission is the end of August, Politico recently noted, as it reported that seven countries, including Romania, had not made an official pick.

In a post on social media, PM Marcel Ciolacu also said that he discussed the priorities of the future European Commission and Romania's expectations from the European Union with EC president Ursula von der Leyen, adding that he would propose a seven-year agreement to reduce Romania's budget deficit.

"Today I had an extremely constructive discussion with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in which I addressed both the priorities of the future European Commission, as well as Romania's expectations from the European Union, the stage of the PNRR implementation, and the European Commissioner nomination from Romania," prime minister Ciolacu said on Facebook.

He also said that Romania has set an "ambitious target" of RON 120 billion for investments this year, and must take advantage of the current context and European funding opportunities "in order to develop and increase the standard of living of Romanians."

"In this sense, we will propose to the European Executive a 7-year agreement through which we can develop economically with investments but also reduce Romania's budget deficit," Marcel Ciolacu said.

The Fiscal Council recently warned that Romania's general government budget deficit will probably exceed 7% of GDP (cash terms) and risks sliding towards 8% of GDP.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos / George Călin)