January 28, 2015 UPDATE
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România Internațional, 28.01.2015, 12:15
The European Commission made public on Wednesday the annual reports on justice as part of the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification, through which the EC monitors the developments in the justice field in Romania and Bulgaria. The EC First Vice President Frans Timmermans said Romania was on the right path and it had to follow that path. Fighting corruption continues to be Romania’s biggest challenge and priority, he also added. In its report the EC praises the activity of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate for its essential role in boosting the number of investigations and convictions, especially in the big corruption cases. The EC report also appreciates the activity of the Constitutional Court, the National Integrity Agency, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, and of the Superior Council of Magistracy. On the other hand, the report says that the judiciary, the education and healthcare systems continue to be affected by corruption. Also the report mentions the Romanian Parliament’s refusal to lift the immunity of those MPs facing legal problems. The EC recommends Romania to include in the Code of Conduct for MPs certain clear cut provisions that should guarantee the independence of the justice system. The EC also recommends Bucharest to intensify preventive actions against conflicts of interests, favoritism, fraud and corruption in public procurement.
The Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, hails the predominantly positive conclusions of the EC annual report on justice issued as part of the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification and believes that it is necessary to carry on with the efforts meant to ensure the irreversible continuation of reforms in the judiciary and the anti-corruption fight, which will be to the benefit of the Romanian society, the presidential administration communiqué shows. In another development, the Romanian President is aware of the critical observations made in the report, related, among others, to Parliament’s reticence to apply final decisions of the Constitutional Court, to the frequent use of emergency ordinances, to Parliament’s refusal to lift the immunity of certain MPs without providing objective criteria to justify their refusal. The justice minister, Robert Cazanciuc, says the MCV report issued on Wednesday is the best report ever issued so far, marking the uncontested progress made in fighting corruption and implementing the new codes.
It’s high time we passed to a new stage of Romanian democracy, which should mean resetting the system and boosting confidence in institutions, said the Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, on Wednesday, after the talks held with the parliamentary parties about the priorities of the next legislative session. According to Klaus Iohannis all parties have shown availability to support the simplification of procedures for the start of prosecution of MPs for institutions to be able to do their job. Iohannis announced that they agreed that by the end of the parliamentary session laws would be passed regarding the elections in the Diaspora, the local and parliamentary elections, and the funding of parties and election campaigns. This was the 2nd round of consultations of the Romanian President with the parliamentary parties since he took office. The first consultations were held on January 12th and resulted in an agreement on increasing the defense budget.
The representatives of the IMF, the WB and the EC, who came to Romania on Tuesday for a 3rd assessment of the current stand-by agreement concluded with Romania, continue consultations with the Romanian authorities. For 2 weeks they will be discussing economic developments in Romania, the stage of privatization and the fiscal code. A priority issue under discussion is the draft law on the insolvency of natural persons, given the appreciation of the Swiss franc against the Romanian currency, the leu, which has generated panic among those Romanians who took out loans in Swiss francs. The issue is also high on the agenda of the Chamber of Deputies. On Tuesday the delegation of the international lenders’ representatives talked with the governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isarescu, about the insolvency law and the conversion of loans.
The more aggressive tactics by authoritarian regimes and an upsurge in terrorist attacks contributed to a disturbing decline in the global freedom in 2014, according to Freedom in the World 2015, Freedom House’s annual report on the condition of political rights and civil liberties. The report cites as evidence of a growing disdain for democratic standards Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a rollback of democratic gains by Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s intensified campaign against press freedom and civil society. The report singles out terrorism for its impact on freedom in 2014. The report mentions the radical Jihadist forces that plagued local governments and populations from West Africa though the Middle East to South Asia. Their impact on countries such as Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and Nigeria was devastating, as they massacred security forces and civilians alike, took foreigners hostage and killed or enslaved religious minorities. The report assessed the condition of freedom in 195 countries and 15 territories in 2014.
