Uncertainties over Romania’s European Commission candidate

MEPs have rejected Romania's candidate

Ştefan Stoica, 27.09.2019, 13:53

Social-Democrat Rovana Plumb,
minister in several PSD-controlled governments and a leading figure of the
Social-Democratic Party (PSD) has been contested by the right-wing opposition
as early as her nomination as future European Commissioner from Romania.

The reason invoked was her lack of
integrity and competence. Mrs. Plumb could not prove her competence in the
field of Transport, she was supposed to take over, because she failed the
integrity test during the interview with the Legal Affairs Committee of the
European Parliament.

The Committee has briefed the
Executive over an existing conflict of interest as far as the Romanian
appointee is concerned. The same happened to the Fidesz candidate of Hungary.
The unprecedented move is a fair one as the Committee’s spokesperson has
pointed out, because under the European treaties, the appointee to the position
of Commissioner must be beyond reproach, independent and committed to the
European general interest.

According to Rovana Plumb,
different stipulations created discrepancies between the assets and wealth
declaration submitted to Brussels and the one in Romania. The explanation
provided by the Committee is superfluous. The presidency and opposition in
Bucharest have reacted immediately. The rejection of Rovana Plumb’s candidacy
by the Legal Affairs Committee represents another major failure of the PSD
ruling, which exports incompetence through repeated political moves that are
deeply affecting Romania’s image, the country’s president Klaus Iohannis has
said.

Iohannis has called on Prime
Minister Viorica Dancila to urgently withdraw Mrs. Plumb’s candidacy and
appoint a new person only after they have been endorsed by the Romanian
president and by Parliament. The opposition National Liberal Party (PNL) has
adopted the same stand, while the USR believes that Romania’s reputation is at
stake and called on the Romanian president to get involved and endorse a new
appointee.

Anticipating that the present
Executive is not going to survive the imminent no-confidence vote, PMP believes
that Romania’s proposal for the future European Commissioner must come from the
future cabinet. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) believes
that Rovana Plumb must take a step back, while Romania should produce a
candidate with integrity, who is going to understand what is actually going on
in the European Union and get political support for the position of European
Commissioner.

Currently under intense criticism,
the ruling PSD says that not all the steps for Rovana Plumb’s confirmation have
been taken and that the party also has backup alternatives if need be. What the
Social Democrats will not find that easily is an answer to the pundits’
question: how come that the Social-Democratic government who has so vehemently
opposed the candidacy of Romania’s chief prosecutor, Laura Codruta Kovesi as
head of the new European Public Prosecutor’s Office, over alleged legal issues,
proposed for the position of European Commissioner and even called for national
support in this case, a candidate facing integrity issues?