The Cooperation and Verification Mechanism on Romania

Romania is on the right track in fighting corruption and reforming its legal system and must carry on.

Roxana Vasile, 29.01.2015, 13:42

Predominantly positive, but…there is room for improvement! That is the main conclusion of the European Commission Report on Romania’s progress in fighting corruption and reforming the judiciary, which praised the efforts undertaken and the achievements of the authorities in Bucharest, whose lassitude had attracted heat from the European institutions in the past.

According to relevant minister Robert Cazanciuc, this report is the best in the past eight years, since the European forums started monitoring EU member Romania under what we know as the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, in short CVM.

Efforts undertaken by National Anti-corruption Directorate, the National Integrity Agency, the High Court of Cassation and Justice and the Higher Council of Magistrates have been acknowledged by the 2014 report. The document focused on grand corruption cases, which led to the detention of leading figures from Romania’s political stage and administration. Also noteworthy was these institutions’ ability to carry on under constant political pressure.

Robert Cazanciuc “The Impressive results obtained by the judicial institutions in the anti-corruption fight, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the National Integrity Agency, the DNA, the Public Ministry have been acknowledged. Also remarkable is the stand of the Higher Council of Magistrates, which struggled for the independence of the country’s legal system, fighting back any moves against justices, prosecutors and institutions in general.”

The report levels criticism though against the present Legislature. Fingers have been pointed at the MPs’ decisions to block criminal investigations against several dignitaries, the endorsement of certain laws with a view to slowing down the fight against corruption and their delay in passing the legislation that could streamline the judicial mechanism. In a quick response, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Social-Democrat Valeriu Zgonea agreed to a simplified immunity-lifting procedure for the Romanian MPs. On one condition only:

Valeriu Zgonea “We have to do away with the requirement for Parliament approval for lifting the MPs’ immunity. I personally agree, but we cannot do that without amending the Constitution.”

So there is still a lot to be done to insure irreversibility in the process of reforming justice and fighting corruption, mainly for the benefit of society and its citizens, as Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has put it. On Wednesday, when the report was published, the Romanian president invited the representatives of parliamentary political parties for talks. All of them have voiced readiness for streamlining procedures for the detention, arrest or searching of the MPs. Until the next CVM report, which is to be presented within a year, Romania has plenty of time to comply with the recommendations of the European Commission.