Romania’s Chamber of Deputies yesterday adopted a bill that abolishes the notion of conflict of interest for civil servants.

The notion was replaced with the phrase “the use of the position to favor some people”.

The amendment brings an important change to the Criminal Law, as the civil servants and elected officials can no longer be charged for using their positions to favor companies that they used to own or work for.

The current definition of “conflict of interest” also covers favoring “persons who the civil servant has been in commercial or work relation in the last five years or from which the servant gets benefits of any kind.” The new law has eliminated this mention. Thus, “the use of the position to favor some people” means the civil servant using the public position to get material benefits for himself or for a relative. This is punishable by one to five years in prison.

The law will now go to the President for promulgation.

editor@romania-insider.com