The battle between the Romanian candidate, Laura Codruta Kövesi – chosen by the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12203) – and the French candidate, Jean-François Bohnert – selected by the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 12198) – for the position of Head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office is entering a decisive phase.
In Bucharest, this appointment has a particular flavour and there are thousands who support the Romanian candidacy. The Romanian civic platform Declic supported the petition initiated by activist Cornel Vîlcu, which has collected more than 146,000 signatures and calls on the EU co-legislators to reject attempts by the Romanian government to discredit the candidate (see EUROPE 12193) and to support Ms Kövesi. Several representatives of the organisation had already demonstrated at the end of February in Brussels before the candidate's hearing in the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12202).
With the approval of the Declic platform, the Romanian Raul Radoi, a Brussels-based European affairs professional, is carrying the message of thousands of Romanian citizens committed to upholding the rule of law in their country.
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The European Union, the "light at the end of the tunnel" for Romania
On 1 January 2007, Romania became a member of the European Union. The country was accepted into the EU even though it barely met the accession criteria. The prospect of EU membership was the only - and strongest - driver of the legislative, administrative, social and economic reforms carried out at that time.
Safeguard measures called the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) were put in place upon accession, as the EU considered that further work was needed to fill gaps in judicial reform and fight corruption. By 2017, progress was so significant that the Commission announced that it wanted to conclude the CVM before the end of its mandate (see EUROPE 11711).
Laura Codruta Kövesi played a decisive role in this progress as Chief Prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) between 2013 and 2018 and as the youngest Prosecutor General in the history of Romania between 2006 and 2013.
Counter-reforms and retaliation
But in 2018, Laura Codruta Kövesi was dismissed by a Minister of Justice who is concentrating more and more power in his hands (see EUROPE 11968). The reasons given were challenged by the Supreme Council of the Judiciary and initially rejected by the President of the Republic, who was then forced to sign the dismissal by a Constitutional Court accused of being politicised. This is proof that reforms of the rule of law seem reversible in Romania.
This removal follows a major offensive by the majority political parties in Parliament, aimed at radically changing the laws, drastically limiting the effectiveness of the fight against corruption, the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers itself.
This has led to the questioning of several investigations, the annulment of final decisions of the Supreme Court or the release of people sentenced on the pretext of relieving prison congestion.
These changes, noted by the last CVM report (see EUROPE 12136), culminated in the establishment of a special section for the investigation of magistrates, created by Government Emergency Ordinance No. 7 – beyond the control of the Attorney General and therefore potentially an instrument in the hands of the Minister of Justice. This measure triggered an unprecedented wave of protest - still ongoing - by Romanian judges (see EUROPE 12198).
In these circumstances, two “coincidences” should be noted: the Special Investigation Section on Judges convened Ms Kövesi on the day of her hearings in the European Parliament as part of the selection process for the appointment of the Head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office and, a second time, on 7 March next, precisely the day on which the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament will decide on the next steps to be taken in the negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.
People fear that Ms Kövesi will face artificial corruption allegations in order to create controversy around her candidacy. This would aim at weakening the determination of the Parliament in the negotiations with the Council of the EU. Here, the Romanian government who is holding the EU Council Presidency had allegedly a contribution to the designation of the French candidate in pole position.
It is unprecedented and against all diplomatic practices, against good sense, against any national interest, that a government does not support the candidacy of its own national who is running for such an important European function. Moreover, of the candidate considered by the technical selection committee as the best qualified for the position and who is depending on a political decision only (see EUROPE 12187).
It is a shame that Romania, from a position of champion of the euro-enthusiasm of the commitment to European integration risks being deviated from its well deserved and painstakingly achieved European trajectory by a political leadership with neo-authoritarian and illiberal deviations and pushed in the camp of other opponents of the European project from the former communist states.
EU values are not negotiable
The appointment of Laura Codruta Kövesi as Head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office would send a strong signal to all neo-authoritarian regimes in the East that the European Union is showing courage and appointing as guardian of its interests - be they financial or legal - a well-known and effective defender of European values, with victories on the most difficult battlefields against corruption and political pressure, in countries where these values are most threatened.
Certainly, the simplest solution, the most comfortable for everyone in Brussels, would be to appoint a non-controversial person, a prosecutor with European experience, diplomatic skills, a perfect knowledge of foreign languages, a predictable and respected Member State that is at the heart of the European project, at the heart of the process that led to the creation of this European institution itself.
Choosing for the candidate from a region of Europe where the topicality of the attachment to the European project is beginning to be contradictory, where not everyone can really understand the context, recent history and what these people and their governments really want, may seem complicated.
But more than 146,000 Romanian citizens have signed the petition in support of Laura Codruta Kövesi's candidacy initiated by the civic platform Declic. There are also the 600,000 people who demonstrated in the streets in 2017 to block the intentions of the government and the parliamentary majority to grant amnesty for those convicted of corruption, to mutilate the laws of justice and the fight against corruption.
These people cried out for the need to apply the law also to the political class, through the National Anti-Corruption Directorate led by Ms Kövesi. Not to mention the million Romanians who have signed the citizens' legislative initiative "Without criminal offenders in public office" and who support her candidacy.
The appointment of Ms Kövesi would be a strong signal to all European citizens who will vote in the European elections at the end of May and still believe in the European Union. The signal that Europe is not abandoning its soldiers on the battlefield. Laura Codruta Kövesi is one such soldier since she is the one who had the most important role in making effective the EU requirements of the fight against corruption in Romania.