Brussels, 12/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 12 July, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta attempted to provide reassurances to the EU about the political situation in his country. This situation has become particularly toxic over recent days due to a series of decisions affecting the institutions of the country, illustrated by the dismissal proceedings against Centre-Right president, Traian Basescu, who has been suspended from his position. The young leader of the government (Centre-Left) was meeting the presidents of the European Council and the Commission, Herman Van Rompuy and José Manuel Barroso in Brussels, and had to provide them with explanations.
Thursday lunchtime, during their meeting with leaders from the religious communities, the two European leaders repeated their concerns. Van Rompuy said that their concern was to ensure “respect for both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution”, a principle that is at the heart of the European project, he added. After their meeting, Van Rompuy called on Ponta to follow all the Commission recommendations and pursue constructive dialogue with it. The president of the European Council reiterated his “deep concern” but said that he was confident that “the Romanian government is fully aware of the importance of what is at stake”.
Barroso urged Ponta to fully respect the independence of the judiciary, restore the powers of the constitutional court and ensure compliance with its decision, a press release states. The government should also appoint an ombudsman who enjoys cross-party support and “make integrity a political priority”.
The previous day, Commissioner Viviane Reding said that she saw “grave danger” in current events. The Commission has, under the terms of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), been monitoring Romania and Bulgaria since 2007, and Reding called for this monitoring to be extended. The Commission will submit its report on the state of democracy in these two countries on 18 July - and the conclusions have yet to be written, she warned.
The CVM report provides one way for the Commission to bring pressure to bear, in that it will inform the decision to be taken by home affairs ministers on whether Romania and Bulgaria should be allowed to join the Schengen area. Discussion of the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area should, in the normal way of things, take place in September. The current political turmoil in Romania could, however, provide those countries, such as the Netherlands, which have reservations over enlarging the passport-free area, with further arguments.
Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who was already in Brussels on Wednesday for a meeting with European Parliament President Martin Schulz, brushed aside all talk of EU pressure through the CVM and refuted any link with his country's fate on Schengen accession, a link “which, I believe, is unfair”, he said on Wednesday evening. He insisted the Commission produce an objective report, “based on fact not allegations”. He was unhappy that only comments emanating from one side were being heard, criticising even Angela Merkel for “only calling Mr Basescu”.
For the rest, Ponta said he was ready to answer any questions or concerns his European partners might have, and to carry out all the changes demanded by the Commission if it should prove that some measures breached European standards, he promised. He also defended the action taken by his coalition and pointed out that the procedure to remove the president from office had been approved by the constitutional court. Ponta, Romania's third prime minister since the turn of the year, had initially threatened to replace all the judges of the constitutional court. Having backed down in the face of the criticism received, he now governs by means of emergency decrees which take effect even before the court can rule on their legality. This is a form of government that Schulz severely criticised. (SP/transl.fl/rt)