EU concerned with amendments to Romania’s justice laws

The European Commission reacted critically on Wednesday, February 20, to Romania adopting by emergency ordinance (OUG) significant amendments to the justice laws, which it said violated the recommendations included under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (MCV).

The EC will ask the Government in Bucharest for explanations on this matter, Margaritis Schinas, a spokesperson for the Commission, said, according to local G4media.ro.

The European Commission is anxious about the latest developments in the rule of law in Romania. Both the content and the way the last changes were made, through emergency ordinances and without any consultation with the judiciary and interested parties, appear to be in direct contradiction with the Commission's recommendations submitted through the MCV, supported by the by all Member States. As a consequence, the Commission will ask for explanations from the Romanian Government regarding the latest changes.

Schinas reminded that one of the recommendations addressed to Romania in the November MCV report was "to put in place a robust and independent system for the appointment of high-level prosecutors based on clear and transparent criteria, with the support of the Commission in Venice." Another recommendation was "reviewing the laws of justice, taking full account of the MCV recommendations as well as the recommendations of the Venice Commission and GRECO." However, the latest changes (under the OUG) follow a completely different direction.

“As we have already said in the past, Romania must urgently return to the reform process. This means going forward, not back, and refraining from any step that would make progress in recent years reversible,” Schinas concluded.

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