European Commission Support for Romania

The European Commission urges Romania to carry on with the anti-corruption fight.

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Bogdan Matei, 07.02.2017, 13:36

On Monday the Romanian Foreign Minister, Teodor Meleşcanu, participated, in Brussels, in the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting. On the sidelines of this meeting Minister Meleşcanu tried to explain the situation in Bucharest and the EU officials responded promptly. The European Commission believes that Romania needs to make progress in the anti-corruption fight and not to cancel the results obtained so far, the First Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans told Meleşcanu against the backdrop of the acute tension caused by the attempt of the Government made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats to amend the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes through an emergency government decree.

Initiated under the pretext that the current Codes should be harmonized with the Constitutional Court rulings but perceived as a way to shield top politicians and officials from the central and local administration from being prosecuted for corruption, the decree, which was eventually withdrawn, prompted hundreds of thousands of angry Romanians to take to the streets and caused consternation in Brussels. Following his meeting with Frans Timmermans and the European foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, minister Meleşcanu told Radio Romania:

“There are two conclusions drawn after these talks. Firstly, the European officials expressed appreciation for the government’s decision to repeal the decree that sparked the protests. The European officials both agreed that such amendments should be transparent and discussed in a larger context, prior to reaching Parliament. Secondly, the European Commission showed availability to support Romania in finding the best solutions to keep Romania on the path of democracy”.

Minister Meleşcanu also said that the European Commission was willing to help Romania build new prisons. When asked whether the European officials were concerned with Romania’s vulnerability in the aftermath of the political crisis, minister Meleşcanu answered:

“On the contrary, they had a positive approach, and showed availability to cooperate with Romania so that it should consolidate its present status, which is important not only for our region but also for the EU as a whole.”

The spokesperson for the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, pointed out that Brussels was ready to provide Romania with expertise in order to finalize the targets included in the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification in the field of the judiciary. The mechanism was set up upon Romania’s joining the EU and it has been maintained all these years because the Romanian officials did not seem to persuade the EU of their official commitment to combating corruption.

(Translated by L. Simion)