This year marks 30^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and the European Union. Moreover, Today- May 9 is Europe Day that recognizes the formation of the European Union with 28 state members.

On the occasion of the 30^th anniversary of Mongolia-the EU diplomatic relations and the Europe Day, H.E. Mr. Traian Laurentiu Hristea, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the European Union to Mongolia, has been interviewed.

-Happy to have you interviewing on the occasion of the Europe Day. Please give us a brief introduction about this day?

-Today – May 9 - is Europe Day. The day when the European Union (EU) celebrates its being one, united. Sixty-nine years ago, in 1950, on this exact day, one of the founding fathers of the European Union, Robert Schuman, put forward a revolutionary idea for those times: that European States could share part of their sovereignty to prevent any future war in Europe.

Two world wars, the most devastating conflicts in human history, started in Europe and spread to the whole planet after thousands of years of European conflicts. After 1945, across a continent ravaged by war and famine, European people looked for a way to rebuild their future. A handful of European leaders decided that the best way to prevent war was to share the things which nations had been fighting for, and to build closer bonds of friendship and trust. The first step was the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951.

What is interesting about the Schuman declaration of 9 May 1950 is that it proposed action be taken immediately on one limited but decisive point: production of coal and steel be placed under a common High Authority, within the framework of an organization open to the participation of the other countries of Europe.

A few years later, in 1957, the signature of the Treaty of Rome created the European Economic Community that later became the European Union, which is based on common policies and a common market. Borders and barriers were removed for goods, people, capitals and services. This allowed cross border trade to flourish making war between neighbours simply unthinkable and generating prosperity and opportunities for millions of Europeans.

Choosing cooperation over confrontation, Europeans built the most successful peace project in history. Our founding fathers and mothers imagined a renewed European continent – a continent that instead of exporting war would promote peace, democracy and human development within its borders and in the world.

-This year marks the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between EU and Mongolia. What kinds of activities are being planned?

-The EU has been supporting Mongolia's democracy for almost three decades. We have been a third neighbour for thirty years, and this isan occasion to celebrate but also to reinforce and expand our cooperation.

In celebration of the 30th anniversary the Delegation of the EU in collaboration with its Members states, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Governor's office of Ulaanbaatar city, for the first time we will organize a Europe Square– European Open day event on Sunday 26 May from 10.00-18.00 at the Sukhbaatar square. We welcome everybody to attend this event. The citizens of Mongolia are invited to taste various European country specific food and drinks at once, get to know about the European Union funded projects, European companies and cultural institutions, and thus to have a better understanding why the European Union is spending the European Union tax payers’ money on projects in Mongolia. We hope this event will bring closer European and Mongolian peoples and cultures.

-What kind of projects and programmes are you implementing in Mongolia?

-Our actions are meant to help our partner, Mongolia, to increase its resilience in this geopolitical environment and to diversify its rules based market economy beyond the mining sector. That is why we cover four main priorities:

We promote better employment opportunities, focusing on diversifying Mongolia's economy and trade patterns by helping small and medium size enterprises. The EU has a very comprehensive strategy that goes from vocational training, to improve value chains, provide better access international markets and providing access to finance to SMEs.

We are supporting the effective implementation of human and labour rights in Mongolia, including the rights of persons with disabilities, as well as the development of civil society organisations in various fields (agriculture, environment, corruption and press freedom).

The EU is finally supporting Mongolia in reducing pollution by moving to renewable energies and switching to more sustainable consumption and production.

We also support the implementation of an ambitious public finance management reform agenda through technical assistance.

-Mongolian side has been continuously expressing the need for strengthening trade and economic related cooperation. Are there any particular activities are taken over in regard of this issue?

-The EU and Mongolia share many common values: respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law are the foundation of our relationship. However, from an economic and trade perspective, our elations leave a lot of room for improvement.

The EU is looking into possibilities to enhance trade relations, and is assisting Mongolia's businesses to better use the EU's Generalised Scheme of Preferences – an EU policy allowing developing countries to pay fewer or no duties on exports to the EU, giving them vital access to the EU market and contributing to their growth. Many products of Mongolia that could find a market in the EU.

The EU is supporting Mongolia with Trade Related Assistance for Mongolia (EU-TRAM) project that has already identified four types of products that have potential to be exported to the EU. These are organic cosmetics, yak and baby camel wool, seabuckthorn oil and leather. For each of these four types of products EU-TRAM project established clusters where all value chain problems are identified and tackled. There is however a need to improve standards, rules of origin, certifications and market intelligence to facilitate access of Mongolian products into the EU market.

This will help Mongolia in making better use of the GSP+ scheme, which allows around 6200 products to enter the EU market without taxes, if market access and quality standards are met.

-You are the first resident EU Ambassador to Mongolia, and a person who has been studying in Mongolia in 1990s. How does it feel like coming back after 23 years? 

-I really appreciate the investment that Mongolia did into a young Romanian student. I studied at the National University of Mongolia between 1990 and 1995.

It is a great privilege to come back as Ambassador of the European Union. I have seen many changes, but what has remained intact it is the hospitality friendship and the openness of the Mongolian people.

Mongolia is still a country in transition: economic, social and political. I will do my best to facilitate the fostering of our political dialogue and sectoral cooperation. My goal is to strengthen the EU-Mongolia partnership for the benefit of Mongolian society and its citizens and to bring the Delegation's contribution to developing bilateral relations beyond the 30^th anniversary in full compliance with the vision and content of the EU-Mongolia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement.