EIU: Romania, “flawed democracy” with “partly free” press

Romania ranks 64th of 167 countries included in The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index 2017, with an overall score of 6.44 points out of 10. Romania is in the category of countries with “flawed democracy” and is last among the EU countries in this ranking, after Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary and Croatia. Romania’s score went down from 6.62 points in 2016 and 6.68 points in 2015. “Romania experienced a sharp decline in its score, reflecting continuing attempts by the ruling coalition to weaken the independence and effectiveness of the judiciary and to block the efforts of some bodies tackling corruption. In January 2017 the government tried unsuccessfully to pass an emergency ordinance to decriminalize minor corruption offences. In May, the Judiciary Committee of the Senate (the upper house of parliament) introduced amendments to a draft law that would have softened the sentences of corruption offenders. Amendments to the criminal procedure codes that would limit liability for corruption offences are being debated in parliament. So far, civil society has been the main obstacle to the implementation of these measures,” reads the EIU report. Romania also has a “partly free media” and a score of 8 out of 10 on this chapter, according to the same report. editor@romania-insider.com