RSS
Ciolos: Future of Romania's rural environment is in the hands of the Romanians
The future of Romania's rural environment is in the hands of the Romanians, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Ciolos said in Cluj-Napoca (406 km north-west of Bucharest) at the conference A Vision for Europe delivered at the Faculty of European Studies.
'The Brussels officials set objectives and then they draw up instruments helping the communities in question to develop according to their own aims, but at the same time ensuring coherence at the European level. In other words, we must choose whether to adopt the path of an accelerating urbanization, a depopulation of rural areas and their transformation in bedrooms for the people living or working in the rural environment or not. On the other hand, Romania might want to adopt a different approach and maintain the population in rural areas, for social, economic, demographic or environmental reasons, this entailing a different kind of strategy as regards the rural infrastructure, the economic activities in villages and the relation between urban and rural areas. All this is related to the choices in the national policy. The future of Romania's rural environment is in the hands of the Romanians, using the instruments of the Common Agricultural Policy,' Dacian Ciolos said.
The EU commissioner also said the existence of a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) does not mean that a EU-member state does not have the right to adopt a national agricultural policy, or a national approach to the way it seizes the opportunities offered by the EU policies. At present, Brussels tries 'to adapt the CAP to the realities of the EU and its 27 member states'.
Referring to the genetically modified organisms (GMO), Dacian Ciolos said it is important for the agriculture that people make their choice wittingly: the farmers must be aware of their products' quality, while the consumer must have all necessary information about the food items he/she opts for.
Ciolos said there is a center to preserve national seeds in Suceava (436 km north-east of Bucharest). In his opinion, certain national seeds 'can be preserved dynamically, by using them, meeting the market demand.'
In addition, Ciolos voiced confidence that the next electoral campaign for the European Parliament elections will represent a debate platform for the EU's development.
'We are Europeans because we are Romanian citizens, we have a European vocation because we are Romanians, but we must also be able to express it, in order to feel at home in the European Union, without having the impression we are tenants,' Dacian Ciolos said.
The EU commissioner inaugurated the Center for International Negotiations and Mediations and the Center for European Regional Development Policies at the Babes-Bolyai University (UBB) and delivered the conference entitled A Vision for Europe at the opening ceremony of the year of master's and doctor's studies.