Is Cioloş Europe's man or Romania's?

The successor of Traian Băsescu in the presidential seat has nominated Dacian Cioloş, as the former president had repeatedly announced over the last few days.

That can mean several things: first of all, that Traian Băsescu and Klaus Iohannis think alike (at least in that regard); the second, that Traian Băsescu continues to be very well informed, and third, that president Klaus Iohannis obeys Traian Băsescu.

You can pick any option you want or you can combine all three.

"Tim Budget", like the press nicknamed Liviu Voinea, has been saved from being sacrificed. Meaning that, instead of having the ephemeral glory of serving as prime-minister for two months, he has stayed to share his wisdom with the National Bank of Romania, as deputy governor.

Dacian Cioloş was a European Commissioner for Agriculture between 2010 and 2014, achieving the first reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Dacian Cioloş was the minister of Agriculture in Romania between October 2007 and December 2008, in the Tăriceanu government, and has maintained a technocrat reputation. Between 2005 and 2007, Cioloş was an advisor to the Minister of Agriculture, while also representing Romania on the special commission of the Council of the European Union on the issue of agriculture. Previously, between 2002 and 2003, Dacian Cioloş worked for the Delegation of the European Commission in Romania, preparing the SAPARD implementation in Romania.

At the time of his appointment as prime-minister of Romania, Dacian Cioloş was one of the personal advisors of the president of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, a position which he was awarded this year. Juncker is considered a grey eminence of the Euro currency system.

By the time the newspaper had gone to the printers, Dacian Cioloş had not yet announced that he had given up that position. Meaning that Romania is in an unusual situation. The nominated prime-minister continues to be an advisor to the former prime-minister of Luxemburg, which makes us wonder whether Cioloş will make Romania sing to the European Union's tune or the other way around.

But our curiosity goes further. It will be interesting to find out whether the representatives of the street protests will feel that this nomination appeases their discontent, which is rather illogical since the protesters were, after all, contesting the system, continuing their night-time marches even after the resignation of the Ponta government.

Klaus Iohannis said that the solution agreed upon with the political parties, with very few exceptions, is that of a government of technocrats.

• Băsescu: "Dacian Cioloş, a good solution"

The leader of the People's Movement Party, Traian Băsescu, feels that the decision of president Klaus Iohannis to nominate Dacian Cioloş as prime-minister is "a good solution". Băsescu has made no further comments, even though it wasn't long ago that he was harshly criticizing the solution of a technocratic government. Sunday night, on B1TV, Traian Băsescu said that the "technocratic solution" is for "banana republics", and he said that appointing a technocrat or a general as government head was basically "the same". According to Mediafax, at the time, the former president also said that the creation of a technocratic government would represent "a guaranteed failure": "It would be the greatest mistake, who in the Parliament would listen to those technocrats? They have to pass budgets, they have to pass laws, who would listen to them? These parliament members, good or bad, have to do their homework and work with a political government. This technocrat stuff has never worked anywhere in Europe (...) The technocratic solution is for banana republics, bringing in technocrats or bringing in generals it's basically the same (...) A technocratic government would be a guaranteed failure".

On the other hand, over the last few days, Traian Băsescu has been saying that president Klaus Iohannis has very few options for the prime-minister position, namely Dacian Cioloş or Lucian Croitoru. The latter was his option during the 2009 political crisis, when the Boc government was dismissed through a vote of no-confidence by the Parliament, and when the majority at the time proposed Klaus Iohannis as prime-minister.

• Dacian Cioloş has ten days to bring before the Parliament the member list and platform of the Government

Dacian Cioloş has 10 days to draw up the list and the governing program, to present before the Parliament to get the vote of confidence. The government would need 274 votes to be validated.

According to the terms of the Constitution, the candidate for the prime-minister position will ask for a vote of confidence from the Parliament within 10 days from his nomination, on the program and member list of the Government. The program and the member list of the Government are discussed by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in a joint session.

The Parliaments grants confidence to the Government with the vote of the majority of deputies and senators.

Thus, in order to be sworn in, the new Government needs 274 votes in favor of the total 547 MPs. Currently, the PSD has 197 senators and deputies, PNL - 176, UNPR - 64, ALDE - 37, UDMR - 25, PND - 12, the group of national minorities - 17, and other 14 deputies and 5 senators are unaffiliated.

"After the consultation of the presidents of the two Chambers of the Parliament and of the leaders of the parliamentary groups, the Romanian president can dissolve the Parliament, if the latter has not granted the vote of confidence within 60 days from the first request and only after at least two requests for the swearing in of the government have been rejected", the Constitution also states.

In the event of a favorable vote in the Parliament, the prime-minister, the ministers and the other members of the Government will individually take their oath of loyalty before the president of Romania.