Interview with the Romanian political scientist about a number of issues dealing with EU reform and the role of Central and Southeastern Europe in the EU.
Vladimir Mitev
Cross-border Talks interviewed the Romanian political scientist and expert on EU affairs Sergiu Mișcoiu in the context of the renewed discussions for EU reform, following the completion of the deliberations, called Conference on the Future of Europe.
We discussed:
– how much of a success is the announced opening to the public for consultations, called Conference on the Future of Europe;
– why the EU continues to be elites-led and the conference mostly reaffirmed the already followed agenda;
– how should we see Emmanuel Macron’s proposal for concentric circles of integration or European political community, opened to non-member from the neighborhood – as encouragement for the non-member to engage the EU or as a discouragement for their efforts to become full members;
– how should we perceive the efforts of Western Europe to impose reforms on EU’s East in fields such as energy transition, anti-corruption and EU defense;
– what can EU’s East learn from Western Europe on the issue of rising energy prices and EU as a market;
– what could be the future role for Romania and Bulgaria within the EU.