Financial turmoil and environmental issue to top list of popular campaign debates for EP candidates
Romanian candidates running for the European Parliament (EP) in June will focus while campaigning mainly on issues related to the financial crisis and environment protection, as most aspirants for a seat will try to convince especially voters in the rural areas of the importance of the EP.
MEP Renate Weber, a candidate seeking another mandate at the third spot on the list of the Liberal Party (PNL), says environmental issues will be presented to inhabitants of the rural areas as well, who are not that receptive to such problems but, explains Weber, they are the first to face the effects of the climate changes. The PNL candidate thinks this campaign should not be bugged with issues of internal politics.
The fourth Democrat-Liberal (PD-L) candidate Cristian Preda, will focus on “environment health”, trying to convince villagers of the importance of the issue by promoting a modern agriculture.
Candidate of the Social-Democrat Party (PSE) Rovana Plumb thinks it is a good idea to raise awareness among Romania's population on food safety, as health and environmental protection are the key issues of her campaign. Another PSD candidate Daciana Sarbu regards MEPs as Romania's lobbyists in Europa and stresses that about 70 percent of Romania's laws come from the European Parliament, an aspect people should know.
However, Theodor Stolojan, the Democrat Liberals' main candidate, thinks Romania has really urgent problems to take care of, like lifting the monitoring for the Justice department or the absorption of European funds. Although he too considers the environmental protection and the agriculture policy as important issues, Stolojan asks himself whether the mass-media in Romania is really prepared for European debates.
The candidate of the Hungarian minority party in Romania (UDMR), Iuliu Winkler, thinks that the real problem in this campaign will be to get people to understand the importance of having a representative in the European Parliament.
The political parties finished their lists of candidates for the EP elections scheduled on June 7.
Romania will send 33 representatives to the European Parliament. The county joined the European bloc on January 1, 2007, with the promise to crackdown corruption and continue reforms in the justice system.