Romanian Ex-PM To Lead EU’s Third-Largest Political Group

Former Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos was elected on Wednesday as leader of Renew Europe, the new central-liberal political grouping in the European Parliament launched by French President Emanuel Macron.

Ciolos' election puts him at the helm of the parliament's third-largest grouping after the centre-right European People's Party and the centre-left Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.

"Congratulations to Dacian Ciolos, our new Group leader!" Renew Europe said on Twitter.

Ciolos, who was elected to the European Parliament on May 26, is the first Eastern European politician to head a parliamentary group in Brussels, according to Romanian media.

Renew Europe will replace the former Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) grouping.

Set up by Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and current ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt, the new group says its mission is to build "a free and fair Europe".

Born in 1969 in the northwestern Romanian town of Zalau, Ciolos is an agronomist who rose to international prominence when he was appointed European Commissioner for Agriculture in 2010.

In 2015, after Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta resigned following the death of 65 people in a nightclub fire in Bucharest, Ciolos was tasked with forming an independent government with the support of the main political parties.

For just over a year, he headed a cabinet of technocrats that pushed reforms to bring more transparency into public affairs and reduce the level of bureaucracy in the administration.

Under Ciolos' leadership, Romania increased its absorption rate of EU funds to more than 80 per cent from 58 per cent.

"Our goal was to plant some seeds, to launch some reforms that will bear fruit...