On Wednesday 7 February, the European Parliament discussed in Strasbourg the concerns raised by the plans for reform of the judicial system in Romania (see EUROPE 11951), with the European Commission calling in particular on the authorities in Bucharest to comply with the recommendations of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) which underline the irreversible nature of the reforms.
European Commissioner for Justice Věra Jourová stated that Romania had until now one of the "best judicial systems in the region" and that because of this the Commission had in 2017 opened the possibility of lifting the application of this CVM for Bucharest.
The debate at the European Parliament took place in a somewhat agitated atmosphere between the political groups, with some S&D representatives (the political group to which the ruling social democrat power in Bucharest adheres) asking other factions of the Parliament to trust Romania to settle these difficulties, especially through dialogue. This was notably the case for Tanja Fajon (S&D, Slovenia), who refused to speak of a problem with the rule of law. Romanian MEPs also accused the Commission of not properly understanding the direction of the reforms planned in the country and politically opposed Romanian MEPs also tore in.
Controversy arose during this debate over the lack of a representative from the Romanian government at this discussion, with the Romanian justice minister having only been asked to give his opinion in the civil liberties committee although he was present in Strasbourg and met S&D MEPs. But an invitation had nevertheless been sent to Romania's Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă, who was furthermore previously an MEP. She had declined the proposal, however, Sophie in’t Veld (ALDE, Netherlands) stated.
For in’t Veld, it is now important "to invite the Venice Commission (ed: from the Council of Europe) to study this package of measures" and the European Parliament's civil liberties committee should perhaps make a visit, she suggested. She also said that ideally it was a monitoring mechanism on the rule of law for all the member states that should be set up, as she had recommended in the past in a specific report on the subject.
Several other MEPs were concerned about the plans to undermine the fight against corruption in senior political circles and about the objective of weakening the Romanian system in the face of these wrongdoings. Ska Keller (Greens/EFA, Germany) and Eva Joly (Greens/EFA, France) particularly called on the Commission to defend the freedoms of Romanians in this situation and their right to have a country acting effectively against corruption. Neither of these two MEPs mentioned the use of Article 7 of the Treaty, however. Earlier in the day, Keller had asked the Commission to do its utmost to avoid this eventuality.
GRECO, the Council of Europe group of states against corruption, is due to publish a report on Romania in March. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)