Some time has passed since Romania was accepted in the European Union in 2007 and hosting the European Union Presidency in 2019 is approaching.
The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, the upper house of the EU legislature. It rotates among the member states of the EU every six months.
The presidency is not an individual, but rather the position is held by a national government, and three successive presidencies, known as presidency trios, cooperate for an 18-month period to provide continuity by sharing common political programs. According to the planning, Romania would have to cooperate with Austria and Finland, which hold the presidency before, and respectively after Romania.
According to the EU scheduling, Romania will have to serve as president of the EU between July 1 and December 21 in 2019. Neighbor Bulgaria is scheduled to take the helm of the EU in July 2018. Until June 30, 2013, Ireland holds the EU presidency, and then next in line is Lithuania. The EU member states on 13 December 2004 agreed the list of the next EU presidencies up until the year 2020.3
Identifying and working to overcome internal and external challenges is important in order to create and implement a coherent and effective public diplomacy strategy. Not doing so can lead to mix messages send by different actors with no governmental coordination and difficulties in establishing appropriate responses to negative image perception abroad.
6.3 European Perceptions of Romania
Compared to other ex-Communist countries in the region Romania still has, for the outside eye, a still strongly visible label of Communist country. Something the authorities and people have failed to change.
3 Romania Insider Publication, “Economy Minister: Romania Will not Be Ready to Take Over the EU Presidency in 2019, When Scheduled,” Romania Insider, June 21, 2013, accessed June 21, 2013,
http://www.romania-insider.com/economy-minister-romania-will-not-be-ready-to-take-over-the-eu-presidency-in-2019-when-scheduled/102307/
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The report of the Country Brand Index (CBI) for 2009 by Future Brand Company, where Romania does not have a distinct image as a country brand and ranks 81 out of 102 countries analyzed.
Romania is underdeveloped as a brand. Residents of other parts of the world know very little about Romania and the country profile is not a distinct one”, it is shown in the CBI report, which quantifies the image of countries according to 29 criteria, from history to business and economic situation. Chapters to which Romania is found in the first half of the rankings are
“natural environment” (19), “history” (44), “high technology” (45), “purchasing power” (45) and
“living standard” (47).4
Foreigners’ perception on Romania’s image is influenced by the behavior of Romanians, both from home and abroad; the decreasing awareness on Romania’s tourism brand is determined by the ignorance of the elements of visual identity and its poor promotion abroad due to using a small number of informational channels; perceptions of foreign visitors on tourism services depends on the diversity and accessibility to these services, and the quality/ price ratio.5
The link to the former regime and slow implementation of reforms can be seen in the example of the attempts of the country to become part of the Schengen zone and the contested amendments to the constitution.
“Romania’s major aim is to get into the Schengen zone and no sacrifice should be big enough to make this happen, not even sacrificing the country’s corrupted people”. Mr. Băsescu, Romania’s president, added at least seven countries oppose his country’s membership in the Schengen zone mainly because of the report by the European Union’s Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification (CVM on the (lack of) progress on judicial reform and the fight against corruption in Romania.
4 Simon Anholt, “Place Branding: Is it Marketing, or Isn’t it?” in Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 4 2008, accessed March 7, 2013, doi:10.1057/palgrave.pb.6000088
5 Ruxandra-Irina Popescu and Alina-Georgiana Profiroiu, “Study on Foreigners’ Perception on Romania’s Image as Tourism Destination,” Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, 2013, accessed June 2, 2013,
http://rtsa.ro/en/files/TRAS-39E-2013-9POPESCU,%20PROFIROIU.pdf
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In the latest CVM report published in January this year, the European Commission criticized Romania for failing to meet demands on protecting democracy and the rule of law and urged the government to accelerate its reforms. The report underlines that the justice system had to face political pressure and anti-corruption prosecutors were undermined. The Commissioned expressed concerns regarding “the lack of respect for the independence of the judiciary and the instability faced by judicial institutions.” 6
A proposed new Romanian constitution that reduces the powers of the president is stirring debate in Bucharest, less than a year after the ruling Social-Liberal Union (USL) coalition tried to impeach President Traian Basescu during the worst political crisis in the country's post-communist history.
The draft constitution has a number of controversial provisions, including those placing significant limits on the executive's powers. For example, the president must appoint a prime minister proposed by the party that receives the most votes in an election.7
The European Union is monitoring the development of this situation. Romania is not the only country that is known to West Europe as a country that still needs to overcome its past and need to reform, Hungary is another example.
In 2013 Hungary's parliament has adopted a package of constitutional changes proposed by the ruling Fidesz party which critics say undermine democracy. The EU expressed concern about the bill, which defies some court rulings.8
6 The Economist Publication, “Not Ready for Schengen,” The Economist, March 7, 2013, accessed March 10, 2013,
http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2013/03/romania-and-eu#comments
7 Paul Ciocoiu,” Romanians Debate Proposed Draft Constitution,” Southeast Europe Times, July 20, 2013, accessed July 22, 2013,
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/blogreview/2013/07/20/blog-03
8 BBC Publication, “Hungary Defies Critics Over Change to Constitution,” BBC News, March 11, 2013, accessed June 3, 2013,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21740743
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