The General Affairs Council approved on Tuesday (March 18) the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification (MCV) report published by the European Commission in January, stating that Romania can meet the objectives in the report, if it continues to make progress, according to a statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, quoted by local Mediafax.

At the meeting of the General Affairs Council, Romania was represented by the State Secretary for European Affairs George Ciamba.

The talks were focused on preparing the European Council meeting scheduled for March 20-21, the implementation of the European Semester in the EU in 2014, and the European Commission Communication on the rule of law mechanism.

The Council adopted unanimously European Commission's conclusions in the reports on the progress made by Romania and Bulgaria under the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification, published on January 22, 2014.

“The Council welcomes the progress Romania has made in many areas, with focus on further strengthening the positive balance sheet of the main judicial and integrity institutions. The Council considers that, in the future, Romania might meet the mechanism’s objectives in this matter, if it continues to make progress,” reads the Ministry’s statement.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com