On Wednesday 24 January, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker and his First Vice President, Frans Timmermans, expressed their “concerns” about events in Romania and the potentially damaging impact on the independence of the country's judicial system.
At the end of December, the national parliament, dominated by the Social Democrats
(PSD), approved three draft laws that have provoked fears of a reduction in the independence of the magistrates and a reduction in the prerogatives of the anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, which has been very active in pursuing those suspected of corruption. The President of the Republic (Centre Right) has not yet officially announced these projects.
In a joint statement, the two European leaders declared, “We are following the latest developments in Romania with concern. The independence of Romania's judicial system and its capacity to fight corruption effectively are essential cornerstones of a strong Romania in the European Union".
Justice Commissioner, Věra Jourová, explained, “We have discussed the situation in Romania. We're still saying that reforms must include sustainable, continuous and irreversible progress". In a letter addressed to the Romanian government, she added that the Commission had taken a position on certain “elements of concern” in the current situation.
The irreversibility of the progress made up until the present time as part of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) is an essential condition for eventually scrapping this mechanism (see EUROPE 11905).
The Commission is calling on the Romanian Parliament to rethink the course of action proposed, to open up the debate in line with the Commission's recommendations contained in the CVM report and to build a broad consensus on the way forward. It also reiterates its readiness to cooperate with and support the Romanian authorities in this process.
On Saturday, more than 30,000 Romanians demonstrated in the street to protest against these measures. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)