Romania’s chance to gain the EU’s Agriculture Commissioner seat is lost by domestic power wringing

At the EU level, Romania is not considered a serious candidate for the portfolio of the European Commissioner on Agriculture. Romania’s entire political class compromised the chances of small farmers to be represented by a Romanian commissioner at the EU’s Agriculture Commission. The lack of responsibility manifested in the past months by the Romanian Government and Parliament in this highly important issue and opportunity of the future is absolutely condemnable, reads an Eco Ruralis press release.


According to internal sources, Romania once had a good chance at securing EU's Agricultural portfolio,with several influential member states backing Romania. But now, after a long delayed nomination and apparent signalling from EU Commission head Jose Miguel Barroso, big supporters like France, Germany and Finland have switched their allegiance to more viable candidates from Ireland and Austria. Romania failed to see this opportunity and as a result the interests of the approximately 3 million small farmers in Romania, which represent over 50% of the total number of the small farmers in the EU will remain unrepresented.

The PD-L liberal and PSD socialist parties (the coalition that until 2 weeks ago formed the Romanian Government) as well as the parties in opposition, contributed to the loss in support for a Romanian EU Agriculture Commissioner. Romania’s politicians instead considered the presidential campaign and internal power wringing as being more important and thus demonstrated a total disregard for the country’s agricultural sector, which is one of the country’s most important sectors. The defective way in which the Romanian authorities have managed European funds so far further highlights and exacerbates this situation. The corruption in the Romanian administration only aided to a lack of confidence on the part of the European Commission to trust Romania with the responsibilities of coordinating the EU's Agricultural portfolio and the substantial budget that comes with it.

The way in which the Romanian authorities dealt with this lost opportunity shows the political classes’ incompetence. Despite the evident signals from Brussels which questioned Romania’s capacity to coordinate such an important portfolio and despite the pressures for Romania to submit on time its nominations for the post, the Romanian authorities instead preferred to work on other issues like the upcoming presidential campaign. During the last months the Romanian authorities had ample opportunities to gain the EU’s trust and the support of the member states. Instead, the scandalous and irresponsible fight for power in Bucharest made Romania a very weak candidate for this vital position. Mr. Dacian Ciolos was eventually nominated by the Romanian Government but this happened far too late and without the government even initiating any kind of negotiations with Barroso, the EC president and member states. While the country is currently inundated by propagandistic speeches from politicians who pretend to serve the national interest, the country’s farming sector is angered by the political realities and lost opportunities.

Eco Ruralis is a Romanian grassroots association made up of small farmers who practice organic and traditional farming based on environmentally conscious principles.