Brussels, 14/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - In Brussels on Friday 14 September 2012, the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, met the restored Romanian president, Traian Basescu, to whom he reiterated the Commission's concerns about the recent political upsets in the country, explains a press release from Barroso's office. On Monday, Barroso will meet the Romanian prime minister, Victor Ponta, to whom he will be making similar comments.
At the end of July, some of the centre-left coalition government tried to oust the Romanian president, but he was confirmed in office in a referendum held on 29 July that was found by the Romanian court to be unconstitutional because turnout was low. The ousting of the president and the holding of the referendum was extremely controversial in Romania and Ponta's coalition was accused by the European Commission of manipulating democratic institutions and violating the rule of law. On 18 July, the Commission published a damning report on the parlous state of democracy in Romania in connection with the Commission's Control and Verification Mechanism (CVM).
On Friday, Barroso reiterated his concerns and deplored the image this situation had created among Romania's European partners. Barroso told Basescu that the Commission will be standing firm on principles - first and foremost, the independence of the legal system and respect of constitutional decisions.
On Wednesday, Commissioner Viviane Reding said she wanted the surveillance of Romania to be extended to all Member States by means of a scoreboard as part of the European Semester system to check whether the EU27 Member States are complying with various aspects of EU law and European standards.
On Friday, the two men discussed Romania's future in the Schengen Area. Barroso said he wanted Romania to join Schengen (like for Bulgaria, its membership was postponed again recently). The conclusions document of the March European Summit recommended that the EU27 reach a final decision on expansion of Schengen to Romania and Bulgaria later this month, but the travails of the political system in Romania and the Dutch general elections have ruined the two countries' chances of joining the Schengen free-circulation zone any time soon. (SP/transl.fl)