EC vice president Timmermans to meet Romanian President, PM this week

The first vice president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, will be in Bucharest on March 1, when he is scheduled to meet the country’s political leadership. Timmermans will meet with President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă, Senate president Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, and Chamber of Deputies speaker Liviu Dragnea. He is also scheduled to meet the Joint Special Committee of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate. The committee is tasked with "the systematization, unification and ensuring legislative stability in the area of justice." Frans Timmermans’ visit comes amid new protests in Romania generated by the justice minister’s decision to ask for the dismissal of chief anticorruption prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi. At the end of January, Timmermans and EC President Jean-Claude Juncker warned in a joint statement on the risks of weakening the rule of law in the country. In a recent meeting with Iohannis, Junker also said the European Commission (EC) will not accept any backward steps from the country’s progress related to the rule of law. At the same time, a delegation evaluating the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) will come to Bucharest between March 14 and March 16 to asses the country’s progress on the recommendations made in the latest report. For this, Tudorel Toader, the justice minister, asked the Chamber of Deputies to provide information on the developments concerning the justice laws between September 2017 and February 2018. According to the minister’s request, the update should reference the transparency of the debates, and how the laws harmonize with the decisions of the Constitutional Court (CCR) and the European directives, and with continuing the fight against corruption. Council of Europe anti-corruption body visits Romania editor@romania-insider.com