Brussels, 15/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 15 March, in a report showing mixed results, the Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) called on Romania to improve its anti-corruption legislation. The report notes improvements in a number of areas such as the setting in place of a comprehensive legal framework (Law No 78/2000), but also underlines weaknesses and the possibility of evading prosecution by a number of those involved in acts of corruption.
GRECO experts above all express concern at the existing arrangements regarding “effective regret”, which allow a person guilty of corruption, such as bribery, to escape justice if he/she denounces the corrupted party or affirms he/she was under constraint by the latter. Thus “effective regret” is a “source of concern given the limited safeguards in place to prevent their abuse by bribe-givers”, the report states.
As for the financing of the activity of political parties and election campaigns, GRECO welcomes what it calls a “quality” law but “some important loopholes hamper the effectiveness of these measures. For instance, all donations up to €420 fall outside the scope of the regulations; in-kind donations, loans and movements of assets within political parties need to be more clearly regulated”, the report reads.
Supervision of party and campaign financing is under the joint responsibility of the Permanent Electoral Authority (PRA) and the Romanian Court of Accounts. However, “these arrangements and the way responsibilities are distributed are not satisfactory”, and “maximum penalties for infringements of the rules are not adequate”, GRECO points out.
The latter is more generally concerned about the current climate in Romania. It comments that it is apparently no longer possible today to adopt an anti-corruption legislation that is as ambitious as the Law No 78/2000. The authorities in charge of combating corruption must currently act to safeguard their legal means of action and their ability to deal with matters involving members of the economic and political elite, GRECO notes, recommending that Romania resolve these difficulties by 2012. (S.P./transl.jl)