Romania launched investigations on 20 February against the First Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, and the European Commissioner for Justice, Věra Jourová, on charges of abuse of power, including the implementation of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), which has been responsible since 2007 for assessing judicial reforms and the fight against corruption in the country.
The Magistrates’ Section, according to the Romanian media, has also initiated legal proceedings for falsifications regarding the content of these ‘CVM’ reports periodically published by the European Commission.
The European Commission noted on Thursday 21 February that the announcement came at a time when the institution had raised "serious concerns" about the rule of law in the country, following the adoption of new emergency judicial decrees by the Romanian Social Democratic Government (see EUROPE 12198).
Margaritis Schinas, the institution's spokesperson, recalled that the European Commissioners were covered by a system of immunity and could only answer to the European Court of Justice and not to national courts, as Romania did not have jurisdiction over them under these protocols, which the country had also approved as an EU Member State. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)