Romanian Pres, PM Leave Quarrels Home

Tariceanu spoke, in the press conference held together with Basescu at the end of the European Council reunion, on climate changes and energy, topics discussed in Brussels, indicating that the objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, undertaken by the European Union, compels Romania to apply pollution reduction measures that cannot always be understood or accepted.

"Energy security and climate changes are not topics on which we can politic. We need to understand that the obligations undertaken by the European Union compel us to take active measures towards the attainment of these objectives, whether this means pollution caused through various means, as well as heating systems in cities and in agriculture, or this means transportation systems, all these things forces us to take a series of active measures that cannot always be easily understood or accepted, but this is the obligation we have accepted and, in the end, we need to understand that this protecting the environment and the citizens is for our own benefit," Tariceanu said.

He indicated that fiscal means are the most efficient method to impose these measures.

Asked, after Tariceanu’s statement, how he would convene with Tariceanu on the car tax issue and if he has held other talks with the prime minister on this topic, Basescu said he discussed this topic with Tariceanu, but he asked the media not to bring to Brussels "the games from back home."

"I can say that I have discussed this topic yesterday, and even today, but I have a request: leave the games back home where they belong and let us not bring them to Brussels. If you want a stance on the matter, we will discuss it there. My conduct, and the prime minister’s, was that, regardless of the local disputes between us, in situations where we represented Romania together, we did not show signs of divergence," Basescu said.

Basescu sent a letter to Tariceanu, Tuesday, asking him to cancel the car through emergency ordinance, and accusing the head of the Government that, through these measures, he is belittling the Romanian citizens.

In reply, Tariceanu said at that time that Basescu is out for cheap votes and he fails to understand the importance of the car tax, adding that he will ask the head of state to stop sending letters, which he sees on television anyway.

In the Government meeting held Wednesday, Tariceanu told the ministers that he is disappointed with the "purely political" attitude displayed by the president on the topic of the car tax, adding that Basescu’s stance seriously damages the negotiations held between the government and the representatives of the European Commission.