Publicat pe 18/03/2019

Bucharest, March 18^th, 2019: The President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR), Mr. Mihai Daraban, received on March 18^th, the visit of the Director for the Future of Europe, EUROCHAMBRES, Mr. Ben Butters.

On this occasion, various topics of common interest were discussed. The President of CCIR, Mr. Mihai Daraban, stressed the need to reform the cameral system at European level, as well as the importance of consulting the chambers of commerce in the process of drafting national and European public policies with impact on the business environment.

Mr. Ben Butters argued that EUROCHAMBRES is the main voice of the business community in Brussels and, more than that, is an influential and advisory player in the EU institutions.

At the same time, Butters questioned the projects initiated by EUROCHAMBRES in which CCIR might be involved. It is important to note that the CCIR will be involved in the “Chamber4EU” project, initiated by EUROCHAMBRES, on the occasion of the European Parliament elections that will take place on May 23^rd-26^th, 2019.

“The Chambers of Commerce will not tell the citizens who to vote with, but their role will be to facilitate the holding of debates in which candidates of various political parties are invited to the European Parliamentary elections, in order to inform the citizens better,” Mr. Ben Butters said.

In this context, it was stressed the importance of forming a friendly European Parliament with the network of European chambers of commerce and the presence of MEPs to support the interests of entrepreneurs who are willing and able to contribute to the progress of the European Union over the next five years.

It was also established that in the summer of 2019 the CCIR will host the EUROCHAMBRES Committee for Enlargement and Neighborhood, which will also launch the third edition of the East Invest program.

Background

EUROCHAMBRES (European Chambers of Commerce and Industry Association) represents over 20 million enterprises in Europe – 98% of which are SMEs – through the 45 national member organizations and the 1700 regional and local chambers.

CCIR has been a member of EUROCHAMBRES since 1993, having originally been an affiliated member, and since 2007, due to Romania’s EU accession, it has obtained full membership.