Social Democrat MEP Victor Negrescu, Vice-Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education and Quaestor of the European Parliament, has concluded another year of parliamentary activity with many results at European level and positive prospects for the coming period. The assessment of his activity in 2023 highlights the main results of his parliamentary activity in relation to the following objectives: fighting for European social rights and respect for citizens, promoting a European Union for all, constant actions for Romania’s accession to the Schengen area, protecting the interests of Europeans and national values and supporting the European path of the Republic of Moldova.

At the same time, while presenting this assessment, Victor Negrescu is sending a message of unity, at a time that reveals the strength of community and solidarity, especially at the end of a difficult year, characterised by unprecedented challenges, from which the EU has emerged stronger:

“2023 has proved what European unity means, helping Ukraine defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity against an invading Russia, but also supporting the Republic of Moldova against external destabilising actions. At the same time, with the recent decision to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova and to offer Georgia the status of a candidate country, the geopolitical European Union, ready to assume its role of global leader, has gained new strength.

 

2024 will be a year filled with challenges, with many electoral moments, that the European Union must manage accordingly in order to maintain the stability and resilience of our society in a difficult global and regional context. Europe must rapidly identify solutions to maintain the cohesion of the bloc and avoid the mirage propagated by populist forces.

 

As MEP, responsible from the social democratic group in the Committee for Budgetary Control and for the European budget, and as Vice-President of the European socialists, I actively contributed to the European reform so that it can be more social, humane and fair for all its citizens.

 

Therefore, as we face a year in which we will express our choices at the ballot box, let us not forget the values that underpin the EU: democracy, freedom, equality, respect for human rights and the rule of law and respect for human dignity.

 

I urge you to look forward to the New Year with a European and optimistic outlook. May 2024 bring a fairer, closer to citizens and stronger EU and a Romania integrated into the Schengen area, rooted deeply on the European path.”

 

An important component of MEP Victor Negrescu’s work in the European Parliament, in 2023, has been linked to the budgetary area:

• he succeeded to amend a European regulation in the European Parliament in order to allow the modification of national recovery and resilience plans;
• he obtained additional funds in the European budget, in particular to reduce the impact of the alarming rise in energy prices, to fight inflation and to support SMEs and vulnerable groups;
• he secured additional funds in the EU budget for 2024 to finance key European priorities in fields such as education, culture, agriculture, the extension of the Schengen area with Romania and Bulgaria and the protection of external borders, as well as for the Neighbourhood Policy;
• he obtained, through a series of parliamentary initiatives, the phasing out of unfinished European projects;
• he promoted the inclusion of new integrated territorial investment areas, such as those dedicated to the Apuseni Mountains or the northern part of Moldova;
• he promoted the transparency of the European budget, calling for the digitalisation of access to EU funds;
• he called on the European Commission to temporarily adjust EU fiscal rules and the excessive deficit procedure by removing from the calculation the specific amounts spent on logistical, military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Moldova.

He has also made constant efforts to promote the national objective of Romania’s accession to the Schengen area:

• he has been the promoter of the European Parliament resolution for accession to the Schengen area, which was supported by the Social Democratic group and adopted by the European legislature after the success of the #RomaniaCereSchengen petition;
• he has conducted the national campaign #RomâniiMerităÎnSchengen, through which he conveyed tens of thousands of messages from Romanians to the European institutions and has had discussions with many European leaders;
• he contributed to the change in position of Sweden and the Netherlands on Romania’s accession to the Schengen area;
• he managed to persuade several MEPs to change their vote in favour of the resolutions supporting Romania’s accession to the Schengen area even though they had initially voted against;
• he organised an action with dozens of PES activists in front of the EU Council headquarters to demand respect for our country’s rights;
• he amended the European Parliament’s last resolution to stress that the Council’s decision in December to reject Romania’s accession, without any legal justification being given in relation to the accession criteria, is discriminatory against Romanians and a violation of their fundamental rights;
• he discussed, prior to Spain taking over the Presidency of the EU Council, with Spanish political leaders and contributed to the inclusion of Romania’s accession to the Schengen area as an objective of their mandate, participating in high-level discussions with officials who could further help Romania;
• he initiated a report by the Constitutional Affairs Committee (AFCO) providing legal solutions so that Austria’s veto on Romania’s entry into Schengen could be overridden; the European Parliament approved this report at its plenary session on 11-14 December, sending a message that Romania can count on the support of the institution in the event of an appeal to the EU Court of Justice and creating the conditions to unblock the unjustified veto.

He has undertaken numerous sectoral actions in the social, digital, educational, cultural and agricultural/rural areas:

• he mobilised the support of dozens of MEPs for causes related to children whose parents work abroad, young people with disabilities or children with cancer;
• he launched the #YouthUP campaign regarding young people and the necessity for concrete measures for them, such as testing the impact of European policies for youth, that generated a dedicated debate in the plenary of the European Parliament;
• he requested European support for Romanian NGOs with expertise in protecting and supporting children from Ukraine;
• he called on the EU institutions to take concrete measures to combat religious extremism, anti-Semitism and hate speech;
• he organised a conference dedicated to supporting Romanian children with parents abroad, which was hosted at the European Parliament;
• he organised the second edition of the Romanian Digital Sector Day in the European Parliament with the support of the S&D Group;
• he organised the “Innovative Romania” exhibition in the European Parliament, where innovations made by Romanian students were presented. The exhibition was organised in partnership with the National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest (UNSTPB);
• he called for European measures to ensure that the digitalisation process ensures online protection for the young and children;
• starting this year, as a result of a pilot project he initiated, 123 schools in the EU and 6000 children have access to modern working tools, digital systems and better connectivity;
• he secured approval for two pilot projects worth €750,000 for European rural areas and €1.5 million for the organisation and reduction of time spent working in the EU;
• he supported the introduction of EU courses in all member countries as a measure to counter anti-European sentiment.

Finally, Victor Negrescu supported the European integration of the Republic of Moldova:

• he called on several occasions during the plenary session of the European Parliament for the opening of EU accession negotiations with the Republic of Moldova and for EU financial support towards interconnectivity projects between this country and Romania;
• he called on the European institutions to express their support for the items highlighted in the resolution of the “European Moldova” Assembly, adopted at the Grand National Assembly Square in Chișinău;
• he called for accelerated integration of the Republic of Moldova into the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance, increased macro-financial assistance and technical assistance for the country;
• he called on the European Commission and the Member States to provide Moldova with access to pre-accession funds in order to support the country on its path towards the European Union and to counter external attempts at destabilisation.