20/02/2019 (Agence Europe) – The European Commission has expressed its "great concern" about the emergency ordinances on justice adopted on Tuesday 19 February by the Romanian government and the changes made to the Romanian legal order, "without consulting the judiciary", which seem "in total contradiction" with the Commission's recommendations formulated in the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), commented Margaritis Schinas, the institution's spokesperson, on 20 February. This emergency decree could weaken the prosecutors in place and strengthen political power's control over the judiciary, according to critics of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. The Commission will ask the Romanian government for "clarifications" and has asked Bucharest to get back on track with the CVM recommendations without "reversing the progress made in recent years". (SP)