Romania begins its first Council presidency

On January 1st 2019, Romania took over for the first time the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

As the holder of the Presidency, Romania will contribute significantly to the political process of the Council for the next six months.

The new “trio presidency” (Romania, Finland, and Croatia) takes place in a complex European and international context with the exit of United Kingdom from the EU (Brexit), the transition to a new legislative cycle following the European elections and the end of the mandate of the European Commission and the European Parliament. Moreover, the presidency will face negotiations on the strategic reference documents of the Union such as the new post-2019 strategic framework for action, the Economic and Monetary Union and the upcoming Multiannual Financial Framework.

The  “trio presidency” programme focuses on five main key areas:

• A Union for jobs, growth, and competitiveness
• А Union that empowers and protects all its citizens
• Towards an energy union with a forward-looking climate policy
• A Union of freedom, security, and justice
• The Union as a strong global actor

The priorities of the Romanian Presidency are driven by the motto: “cohesion, a common European value, understood as unity, equal treatment, and convergence”.

Concerning the Health sector, the Romanian programme highlights the Importance of “Guaranteeing access to healthcare for all European citizens”.

The priorities in the health sector will be:

• To ensure patients’ access to medication
• To increase vaccination coverage
• The Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the associated infections
• Healthcare digitisation (e-Health)

At the same time, patient mobility will be a special topic of the Romanian Presidency, and among other things, an exchange of views will be held on the implementation of Directive 24/2011/ EU on the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare

Moreover, the Romanian Presidency will pay particular attention to healthcare issues in the proposal for a Regulation on the European Social Fund (ESF+), successor to the Health Programme of the European Union.