Victor Negrescu

According to the final count of the May 26 elections to the European Parliament in Romania, the National Liberal Party (PNL) will get 10 MEP seats; the Social Democratic Party (PSD), nine; and the Save Romania Union - Plus (2020 USR PLUS) eight, spokesman for the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) Marian Muhulet said on Monday.

Chairman of PES Activists Romania and former Minister-delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu said on Saturday in Timisoara that Romania is ready to take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and everything is going as planned.

At the Cotroceni Presidential Palace on Wednesday, George Ciamba was sworn in as the new minister-delegate for European affairs, with President Klaus Iohannis underlining on this occasion that the preparations for Romania's presidency of the Council of the European Union have reached the home stretch.

The legal powers of the minister-delegate for European affairs regarding the representation and management of the General Affairs Council files will be taken over and fulfilled a by another government official, according to an order of the prime minister.

Romanian Minister Delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu handed in his resignation less than two months before his country is set to take over the European Council six-month rotating presidency on January 1, 2019, ahead of Brexit and the European elections.

Romania intends to reinvigorate the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), Minister Delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu told the EUSDR National Forum, an event organized on Monday at the Palace of Parliament, on the occasion of the launch of Romania's EUSDR Presidency.

As of today, 1 November 2018, Romania takes over the Presidency of the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), a position in which it will propose the allocation of additional financial resources for the development of the region's potential that this region has.

Under a proposal of the European Commission, Romania will get an 8pct raise in its European budget over the current one, European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu said on Monday, emphasising the need for an agreement on the multiannual financial framework before the 2019 elections to the European Parliament.

Cohesion policy is the guarantee of raising the quality of life for European citizens, with the results being visible also in Romania, which in the period since its EU accession has received European funds of over 45 billion euros for its own development, European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu said Friday, ahead of a visit she will pay on Monday and Tuesday to Romania.

Minister-delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu said on Friday that a "broad consensus" exists over Romania's presidency of the Council of the European Union, reiterating that Romania is ready to assume the office.