The Romanian Academic Society, the Group for Social Dialog and EurActiv held the “European MPs versus Europe” on Sunday, November 11. The event was attended by PSD, PD and PLD candidates. SAR president Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, presented a report on how Romanian parties approach the European problem. Donato Chiarini, the European Union ambassador to Bucharest was also in attendance.
The scandal that erupted after several Romanian citizens were forced to leave Italy brought a European topic that has been a long time waiting to be discussed to the forefront. There are many such topics, other than immigration policies, which do not qualify as subject for serious political debate in Romania, the consequence of which is that measure plans are always a reaction to a crisis that is already in progress.
In order to break that cycle, SAR and its partners initiated a public debate during which Romanian parties tried to clearly and systematically define their stance on all European themes. The initiative aims to inform voters and increase participation in the November 25 elections.
In view of preparing this debate, political parties filled out a questionnaire in which they stated their position on current European themes. Their answers are accessible online and have also been summarized and analyzed in a SAR policy brief.