On Wednesday 31 January, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, warned Romania against any attempt to deviate from its journey towards the rule of law, begun by the country in 2007. He assured the Romanian government that if certain controversial law bills remain on the table, the suppression of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism and accession to the Schengen zone would be raised in entirely different terms.
The Commission President received the Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, on Wednesday, when the latter came to notify the Commission of his concerns over the rule of law and independence of the judiciary. The Romanian President had previously refused to approve the controversial laws on the fight against corruption and the Romanian Constitutional Court itself rejected certain projects earlier this week. Iohannis has pledged to do all in his power to preserve the independence of the Romanian justice system.
For his part, Juncker reiterated the Commission's desire to end the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), which has applied to Romania and Bulgaria since 2007 to monitor judicial reforms and the fight against corruption (see EUROPE 11905). He also reiterated his desire for Romania and Bulgaria to join the Schengen area of free movement, where both countries “belong”. However, the President stressed that the road towards the rule of law and an independent judicial system was an irreversible one. He also reminded the legislators that the sooner these controversial laws are shelved, the easier it will be to convince the other member states to let Romania into Schengen.
On Monday 29 January, the Romanian parliament confirmed the appointment of Viorica Dăncilă to the post of Prime Minister. The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, sent her his congratulations on Tuesday 30 January and reiterated the importance for Romania of sticking to the path of reforms and the rule of law, particularly as Romania is to hold the Presidency of the Council of the EU in one year's time. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)