Comments on: President Basescu and the EU. Sheer amazement.

By: Arthur Leban

Arthur Leban — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 08:04:49 +0000

I was wondering if you ever thought of changing the structure of your blog? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or 2 pictures. Maybe you could space it out better?

By: auta ze szwecji

auta ze szwecji — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:05:32 +0000

Very interesting article, i bookmarked your blog
Best regards

By: Jaroslav

Jaroslav — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 02:03:38 +0000

There is no magic skill.

By: Corina Murafa

Corina Murafa — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:17:36 +0000

@saize … you’re fully right… my mistake on big countries/ small countries. romania’s not small in any way, by means of its population or territorial size. however, it’s still a minor state in the economy of the EU, also because of present restrictions Romanian citizens suffer from in the post-accession period.

@Valentin… I don’t believe it was a trap; I think the poor journalist was confused. But I still disagree with you on the importance/ lack of importance of a commissioner. I believe that in diplomacy and politics, official prerogatives matter less the soft power, which a country gains by having a commissioner from one of its most prestigious public figures.

By: Valentin Stoian

Valentin Stoian — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:56:00 +0000

Dear Corina
The question was a clear trap. If Basescu had answered, yes, I’d be willing to give up a commissioner, the press would have said “Poor Romania, seduced and abandoned by its president”-c’mon not having a permanent commissioner its not tragic, as we know, commissioners don’t represent the state, but the general EU interest. It like having smaller government.
If he had said “No, I would not give up a comissioner”, then the press would have said “Basescu is blocking the EU”.

By: saize

saize — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:27:19 +0000

Dear Corina, I didn’t mean to be rude. Everybody knows that Lisbon reduces the number of Commissioners to 18 from 2014, as the “official EU site” you provided also shows.
Also, Nice says that the number of Commissioners has to be reduced once the number of Member States reaches 27 (that is, now).

The essential detail in both cases is that the posts will rotate between all countries equally.

I just wanted to know where did you get the information that only the smaller EU Member States will have rotating seats. This is plain disinformation. How do you think Malta or Luxembourg or Cyprus would react to that?

BTW, why do you count Romania as being one of the smaller states anyway?

By: Corina Murafa

Corina Murafa — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:54:31 +0000

@moromete – you’re right; the journalist had made the mistake; but still, the president should not treat her like that

@saiza – here’s where i got the info: http://europa.eu/lisbon_treaty/glance/institutions/index_en.htm (an official EU site, to be exact); losing its commissioner = having a rotating commissioner, not a permanent one like it does now; please pay more attention before making rude comments

By: saize

saize — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:56:54 +0000

where did u get this information?
“under the lisbon treaty, it gets reduced to 18, with rotating seats for smaller EU member states, and Romania is a candidate for losing its commissioner.”

it is totally wrong. you are misinformed and you cause great damage to Romania’s interests by talking so carelessly about such an issue.

By: moromete

moromete — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:38:08 +0000

As far as the question went there was no “question” because of the refference to the wrong treaty. Maybe Basescu was to damn blunt, but he had a point. Theere was no question to answer…

By: Corina Murafa

Corina Murafa — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 15:17:00 +0000

@emil – the structural and cohesion funds virtually created Ireland’s economy as we see it today

@andreea – the question was technically wrong, but just technically. under the nice treaty, the number of commissioners is the same as the number of member states. under the lisbon treaty, it gets reduced to 18, with rotating seats for smaller EU member states, and Romania is a candidate for losing its commissioner. thus, the problem persists and it’s a good one, it’s just that the journalist mistook names, but still the dilemma she raised is a very real one.