Romanian Ministers of Home Affairs, Carmen Daniela Dan, and Justice, Tudorel Toader, came on Wednesday morning, 23 January, to discuss with MEPs from the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) the content of the priorities of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU.
However, the discussions focused on the recent laws envisaged in Romania in the judicial system and, in particular, a new amnesty law that could result in the cancellation of more than 100 investigations and charges of corruption.
Not surprisingly, the Romanian Minister of Justice was asked by the German social democrat Jo Leinen in particular to reply on these draft laws as well as on the Romanian Presidency's plans to move forward with the ‘Article 7' rule of law proceedings launched against Poland and Hungary.
These are two major questions for MEPs, to which the Minister has not provided any answers, other than a brief justification for these judicial reforms, which are intended, among other things, to relieve prison congestion. However, the minister promised that his country would not stand out from the common values, fundamental rights or the rule of law.
In the area of Home Affairs, the Minister has also been cautious and has refrained from setting a course for the asylum package and its most controversial aspect, the Dublin Regulation. She merely recalled the lack of consensus at this stage and indicated that Romania would try to move the discussions forward by trying to identify solutions that could have the widest possible support within Member States, including on the balance between solidarity and responsibility.
The more achievable objective by June is to take forward the work of the trilogues that will start on the subject of liaison officers - EU officials in third countries with the task of combating illegal migration - voted on in the LIBE Committee on the same day, as well as those on interoperability of information systems or visa policy. The Presidency also wishes to complete work on the reform of the Schengen Borders Code. On the issue of the European coastguard and border guards, she also wants to move forward, but the minister has not set a course for a successful reform within six months.
However, MEPs' remarks were the most acrimonious on the issue of the rule of law, with Dutch MEP Sophie in't Veld (ALDE) calling on the country to be "internally at the level of what you advocate at European level", in response to the minister who had said Romania's commitment to the EU's values. For her Greens/EFA compatriot, Judith Sargentini, the fact that hundreds of corruption cases could be amnestied could "undermine mutual trust" and mutual legal assistance between Member States. Romanian MEP Monica Macovei, elected to the ECR and former Minister of Justice, was more direct, calling on the Social Democratic government, allied to the Liberals, to respect the rule of law and to question its actions, which could cost it the confidence of its partners. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)