Senate plenary is set to debate on Monday the simple motion criticising the manner in which the Government represents Romania's interests in the European decision-making process regarding the EU-Mercosur Agreement, according to a press release on this institution's website.
The motion is called "The EU-Mercosur Agreement: Romania's approach in a major strategic agreement through a clandestine mandate, without analysis and against its own interests", and it is initiated by 47 Senators from the Opposition.
The signatories criticise "the elimination of the parliamentary consultation from the process that led to the conclusion of a strategic agreement of the magnitude of the Mercosur".
"According to Law no. 373/2013 on cooperation between Parliament and Government in European affairs, the Government is obliged to inform the Parliament and to submit the negotiation mandate to the specialised committees, based on which the Legislative was required to issue an opinion. (...) Under Article 91 of the Constitution (given that the EU-Mercosur agreement is of a mixed nature both economic and political, and therefore not within the exclusive competence of Brussels), this agreement will have to be ratified by Parliament, a step that is far from clear that it will be respected. Support for the EU-Mercosur agreement has sidestepped parliamentary debate. We were not called upon to discuss either the advisability, or the conditions or limits of such support, which allowed the Government to construct an informal mandate, transmitted via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Romania's representative in COREPER II. A decision with major implications for agriculture and industry was shifted from the sphere of political deliberation into that of administrative procedure,' the motion further states.
The Opposition Senators explain the effects "of Romania's exposure to a direct competition with states such as Brazil, Uruguay and Argentine, where industrial energy is massively subsidised, and the carbon certificates are inexistent, which will lead to the relatively fast conclusion of production in Romania".
"Our country still has the capacity to produce complex goods: however, against the backdrop of disproportionate energy costs, we will loose this opportunity and become a nation deprived of economic sovereignty. As far as producers are concerned, relocation to markets in South-East Asia or North Africa will be the most straightforward and understandable step. That is why, Mr. prime Minister, when energy costs are three or even four times higher than in the countries with which you wish to place us together', logic contradicts you: the outcome cannot be development, but self-destruction in the context of unfair competition,' the text of the motion details.
The initiators of the motion argue that 'the EU-Mercosur agreement remains a structurally asymmetric agreement, which favours heavily industrialised economies and directly harms states with vulnerable sectors.'
The motion concerning Mercosur will be debated on Monday, together with two other simple motions against the interim Minister of Education and the Minister of Defence, with 45 minutes allocated to each.
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