PRO Romania (, PRO) is an extra-parliamentary

social liberal Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

History

The founding of PRO Romania was initiated in 2017 by former Prime Minister

Victor Ponta Victor Viorel Ponta (; born 20 September 1972) is a Romanian politician and jurist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from 2012 to 2015. He was president of the Social Democratic Party (Romania), Social Democratic Party (PSD) from 2010 to ...

, former

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of sk ...

/ad interim Prime Minister and Minister of Education

Sorin Cîmpeanu Mihai Cîmpeanu () is a Romanian politician who served as Minister of Education in Ciucă Cabinet. He had previously held the same position in Ponta IV and Cîțu cabinets, and, between 5 and 17 November 2015, acted as Prime Minister of Roma ...

, and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment and Climate Change Daniel Constantin. The party was formally established on 20 February 2018 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Corina Crețu Corina Crețu (born 24 June 1967) is a Romanian politician and a former European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms. Crețu is a member of the Romanian PRO Romania and Member of the European Parliament (sitting with the Progressive Allian ...

European Commissioner for Regional Policy The Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms is a portfolio within the European Commission. The current Commissioner is Raffaele Fitto. The portfolio is responsible for managing the European Union Regional policy, regional policy of the European U ...

, announced on 17 January 2019 that she would be a candidate in the

European Parliament election Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until 2019, 751 ...

on behalf of PRO Romania. She would be at the second position in the list after Victor Ponta. Four days later, senator and former Minister of National Defence

Adrian Țuțuianu Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the main ...

announced that he joined the party, becoming the first senator to join PRO Romania. In 2019, PRO Romania was represented in the

Romanian Parliament The Parliament of Romania () is the national bicameral legislature of Romania, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies () and the Senate (). It meets at the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, the capital. Prior to the modification of the Cons ...

by 20

deputies A legislator, or lawmaker, is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people, but they can be appointed, or hereditary. Legislatures may be supra-nati ...

and 1

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

and in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

by 2 MEPs. The party joined the European political party

European Democratic Party The European Democratic Party (EDP; French: ''Parti démocrate européen'', PDE), also known as the European Democrats, is a centrist European political party in favour of European integration. Within the European Parliament, its MEPs form th ...

(EDP) in February 2019. However, its MEPs sit in the

Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the Political groups of the European Parliament, political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and ...

(PES) and not in the

Renew Europe Renew Europe (or simply Renew) is a liberal, centrist to centre-right, pro-European political group of the European Parliament founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Dem ...

group. In 2020, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) merged into PRO Romania, and the expanded party has renamed itself ''PRO Romania Social-Liberal'' (). Nevertheless, on 26 January 2021, the executive bureau of PRO Romania met to stop the merger procedure between the party and ALDE, thereby formally ceasing the union between the two parties. In October 2022, the party became an observer member of the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a Social democracy, social democratic European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all the European Economic Area, European economic area states (EEA) plus the Unit ...

(PES).

Members

Since its establishment, many high-profile former members of PSD or ALDE have joined PRO Romania, including: * Nicolae Bănicioiu - member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

and former Minister of Health; *

Ioana Petrescu Ioana Maria Petrescu (born July 1, 1980) is a Romanian economist who served as the country's Finance Minister. She is a public policy scholar at Harvard Kennedy School and runs a Romanian NGO "Pur și Simplu Verde" that supports local government ...

- former Minister of Finance; * Augustin Jianu - former Minister of Communications and Information Society; * Mircea Dobre - member of the

and former Minister of Tourism; * Gabriela Podașcă,

Cătălin Nechifor Cătălin () is a Romanian male first name, the masculine form of Cătălina ("Catherine"). It may refer to: *Alexandru Cătălin Neagu (born 1993), Romanian footballer *Cătălin Albu (born 2004), Romanian footballer * Cătălin Anghel (born 197 ...

Mircea Banias Mircea is a Romanian masculine given name, a form of the South Slavic name Mirče (Мирче) that derives from the Slavic word ''mir'', meaning 'peace'. It may refer to: People Princes of Wallachia * Mircea I of Wallachia (1355–1418), ...

Emilia Meiroșu Emilia may refer to: People * Emilia (given name), list of people with this name Places * Emilia (region), a historical region of Italy. Reggio, Emilia * Emilia-Romagna, an administrative region in Italy, including the historical regions of Emi ...

Mihaela Huncă Mihaela is a female given name with the same etymology as Michaela. It is very common in Romania, and also found in Croatia and Bulgaria. Notable people with the name include: * Mihaela Bene (born 1973), Romanian sprint canoer *Mihaela Botezan ( ...

Eugen Durbacă Eugen is a masculine given name which may refer to: * Archduke Eugen of Austria (1863–1954), last Habsburg Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order from 1894 to 1923 * Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke (1865–1947), Swedish painter, art collector, and pa ...

Alin Văcaru Alin may refer to: * Alin, Iran, a village * Arid Lands Information Network, a Kenyan NGO * Alin, a magical civilization in the video game '' Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends'' * ''Alianza de Izquierda Nacional'' (Alliance of the National Left), a ...

, Adrian Pau - members of the

; *

Răzvan Cotovelea Răzvan is a Romanian-language male given name. It may refer to: People Arts and sciences Military Politics Sports Association football * Răzvan Andronic — (–) midfielder * Răzvan Avram — (–) footballer * Răzvan ...

- former Minister of Communications and Information Society; *

- senator and former Minister of National Defence.

Electoral history

Legislative elections

Notes: ¹ The MPs were elected on

PSD PSD may refer to: Educational bodies * Poudre School District, a school district in Larimer County, Colorado Government and military * Payment Services Directive, EU regulation for payment services * Pesticides Safety Directorate, UK * President ...

's and ALDE's lists.

Local elections

Presidential elections

Notes: ¹ Mircea Diaconu was the candidate of the "One Man" () alliance; The alliance's members were PRO Romania and ALDE.

European elections

References

External links

Official website
{{Romanian topics 2018 establishments in Romania European Democratic Party Liberal parties in Romania Political parties established in 2018 Registered political parties in Romania Social liberal parties