AGERPRES special correspondent Florentina Peia reports: President Klaus Iohannis stressed the importance of affordable energy prices, the need to stimulate connectivity and to remove structural bottlenecks in energy transmission networks at the European Council meeting on Thursday.
The main topics on the European Council meeting agenda were the situation in Ukraine, developments in the Middle East, the European Union's competitiveness and migration management.
The agenda of the leaders also included discussions on the Republic of Moldova, Georgia, support for the multilateral system and the rule-based international order, high energy prices and other topics related to the EU's external relations.
According to a press release of the Presidential Administration, the European leaders exchanged views on strengthening the Union's competitiveness in line with the objectives set out in the Strategic Agenda 2024-2029.
The discussions also focused on increasing the EU's economic resilience, industrial revival and making full use of the potential of the Single Market, with leaders stressing the importance of addressing the challenges identified in the Letta Report on the future of the Single Market and the Draghi Report on the future of European competitiveness as a matter of priority.
"The president of Romania stressed the importance of rapid progress in defining and implementing measures to manage the challenges identified in the two reports and called for an integrated approach to efforts for boosting European competitiveness in order to ensure tangible results for the benefit of all EU member states. President Klaus Iohannis mentioned, as priorities for future steps, reducing administrative burdens and ensuring a fair competition environment at EU level, tackling high energy prices and moving towards the Energy Union, addressing the future of traditional industrial sectors and facilitating their access to innovation," the source mentions.
At the same time, the leaders discussed high energy prices in certain regions of Europe, inviting the Commission to present a series of measures to remedy the situation.
"Romania's president stressed the importance of affordable energy prices in view to market stabilisation, consumer protection and business environment competitiveness stimulation. President Klaus Iohannis also highlighted the need to stimulate connectivity and to remove structural bottlenecks in energy transmission networks," the Presidential Administration also informs.
According to the quoted source, the European Council also had a strategic, substantive discussion on the progress made in advancing the comprehensive approach to migration management, along the lines of action drew in February 2023.
In this context, the head of state welcomed the intensification of efforts to address the specific challenges of the external dimension of migration and expressed support for the advancement of comprehensive strategic partnerships with third countries in order to reduce the causes of migration, combat smuggling of migrants and increases in the number of illegal migrants.
"Klaus Iohannis reconfirmed our country's commitment to the implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, emphasising the need to respect the balance between solidarity and responsibility that was at the basis of its adoption. At the same time, he underscored the importance of a structural and predictable solution to capitalise on the opportunities of legal migration," the Presidential Administration added.