Renewing Romania's European Project Reînnoim Proiectul European al României | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | REPER |
| President | Camelia Sălcudean |
| Founder | Dacian Cioloș Ramona Strugariu Dragoș Pîslaru Alin Mituța Dragoș Tudorache[1] |
| Founded | 31 May 2022 (2022-05-31) |
| Split from | Save Romania Union (USR) |
| Preceded by | Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (PLUS) (unofficially) |
| Ideology | Liberalism Pro-Europeanism |
| Political position | Centre[2] |
| National affiliation | Platform for Democracy, Prosperity, and Progress |
| European Parliament group | Renew Europe |
| Colours | Magenta |
| European Parliament | 0 / 33 |
| Senate | 0 / 136 |
| Chamber of Deputies | 0 / 330 |
| Ministers | 1 / 16 |
| Website | |
| partidulreper | |
Renewing Romania's European Project (Romanian:Reînnoim Proiectul European al României,REPER) is apolitical party inRomania. It is a splinter of theSave Romania Union (USR) and is currently led by president Camelia Sălcudean. The party was founded in May 2022, in opposition to USR's leadership underCătălin Drulă. The party is mostly associated with formertechnocraticPrime Minister and former USR presidentDacian Cioloș, who founded the party. On 7 May 2023, Pîslaru and Strugariu were voted co-presidents at the latest congress of the party.[3]
On 30 March 2018,Dacian Cioloș announced his plans to establish a new political party, called the "Romania Together Movement".[4] However, its official registration was never finalized due to various appeals and delays in the legal process.[5] This was abandoned in favor of theFreedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (PLUS), which was registered in December 2018 by three colleagues of Cioloș.[6] On 26 January 2019, PLUS organized its first National Convention, where Cioloș was elected president of the party.[7]
Soon after Cioloș took the party presidency, it was announced that PLUS will form anelectoral alliance with theSave Romania Union (USR), known as the2020 USR-PLUS Alliance, to participate together in the2019 European Parliament election in Romania,[8] and subsequently in the2019 presidential election and the 2020local andlegislative elections as well.[9]
On 15 August 2020, USR and PLUS organized a joint congress to decide whether to formally unite the two parties or not, with 84.65% of the participants voting in favor of a merger.[10] The merger was approved by the Bucharest Court of Appeal on 16 April 2021.[11]
In October 2021, after a joint leadership withDan Barna,[11] Cioloș was elected the sole president ofthe new party, which retained the "Save Romania Union" name.[12][13] Four months later, in February 2022, Cioloș resigned as USR president after his presidential project was rejected by the party's National Bureau, with a vote of 14–11. He stated, however, that he would remain member of the party.[14]
On 31 May 2022,Dacian Cioloș, along with four otherMEPs, resigned from theSave Romania Union (USR), criticizing the leadership of the party: "We do not see in the USR leadership either the desire or the maturity to accept the mistakes of the past and to change a direction that leads the party to political irrelevance". Cioloș and his supporters then announced the formation of a new party, more specifically "Renewing Romania's European Project" (or "REPER" for short).[15][16] This announcement was met with waves of irony stemming from prominent USR members, includingBucharest Sector 1 mayorClotilde Armand, former Justice MinisterStelian Ion, and Cosette Chichirău, as well as incumbent party presidentCătălin Drulă or former party presidentDan Barna.[17]
Until the party's first congress, the party was led byDragoș Pîslaru andRamona Strugariu asacting/ad interim co-presidents.[18] Cioloș chose not to hold a position within the party leadership.[19]
On 24 September 2024,DEMOS,NOW and REPER announced an electoral alliance to contest the2024 Romanian legislative election, thePlatform for Democracy, Prosperity, and Progress.[20]
| Election | Votes | Percentage | MEPs | Position | EU Party | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 334,703 | 3.74% | 0 / 33 | 6th | RE |
| Election | Chamber | Senate | Position | Aftermath | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| 2024 | 114,223 | 1.24 | 0 / 331 | 126,408 | 1.37 | 0 / 136 | 11th | Extraparliamentary opposition toPSD-PNL-UDMR minority government (2024–2025) |
| Extraparliamentary participation inPSD-PNL-USR-UDMR government (2025–present) | ||||||||
| Year | Candidate | First round | Second round | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Percentage | Position | Votes | Percentage | Position | ||
| 2025 | Nicușor Dan1 | 1,979,767 | 20.99% | 2nd | 6,168,696 | 53.60% | 1st |
1Independent candidate endorsed by the REPER
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