Romania will participate actively in UK's exit negotiations

Speaking at a meeting with government officials held on Friday, PM Dacian Ciolos said he regretted the outcome of the referendum but he respected the decision of the British people. He added that Romania will be an active player in UK’s exit negotiations.

In the aftermath of the Brexit vote, PM Dacian Ciolos called a meeting at Victoria Palace where he held talks with Vice Prime Ministers Vasile Dincu and Costin Borc as well as with Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu, among others.

Speaking to the press, Ciolos said: “I have taken note, of course, with regret of the result of the UK referendum, but it is an option of the British people that we respect. In this context, I want to tell you that the message that emerged from the discussion I had with Mr. president, with the [National Bank of Romania] BNR governor and with political leaders (…) is that Romania wants to continue its European path, the European way and to be a proactive actor of the process of evolution of the EU, which, will be recorded after this decision by the UK,” Ciolos said at Victoria Palace.

According to Ciolos, on the short term, Brexit will not have a significant impact on the Romanian economy and will not affect the lives of Romanians living in the UK in a negative way.

Read how Romanian policymakers, economists and analysis reacted to the Brexit vote

“Based on the first analysis we made, there won’t be an immediate significant impact on the Romanian economy following this decision” Ciolos said. “We will continue to follow how things will unfold, we will continue to monitor the analyses, surely there will be an impact, the situation in Romania and at the level of the economy will evolve, just like, I am certain, will happen at a European and international level.”

No significant impact on the economy expected, PM says

“But the main message is that, as far as the economy is concerned,” Ciolos added, given the situation we are facing right now, (…) we are not expecting a significant impact on the short term.

The PM also addressed the concern of Romanian citizens living and working in the United Kingdom. “Another message I want to convey especially to Romanian citizens living and working in the United Kingdom: there will be no immediate impact on their rights, certainly and of obligations they have as Romanian citizens, therefore as European citizens,” Ciolos explained.

The Romanian PM also assessed that the whole process connected to the UK’s exit from the European Union could take at least two years and that Romania will play an active role in negotiations.

“We will need, based on the first analysis made by European institutions, a minimum of two years to negotiate the framework and the conditions of the exit of the United Kingdom from the EU, given that the UK authorities will make the decision of the referendum formal via a formal request that the EU institutions will have to make. The subsequent stages require this formal request (…) after which negotiations between EU institutions and the United Kingdom will participate actively in these negotiations in order to make sure that (…) this will be carried out in the best conditions possible in order to take our expectations into account. This process will be a lengthy one and tha will allow us to express our points of view,” Dacian Ciolos said.