EC's Jourova sees "political momentum" for justice reforms in Romania

There is now a political momentum to adopt laws that will address the issues presented in the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) report that will allow the European Commission (EC) to wrap up the mechanism, European Commission for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova said in an interview during her visit to Bucharest, Dcnews.ro reported.

She mentioned "strong statements and determination" [for justice reforms] from the President, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice, as well as other important officials.

What is very important for the wrapping up of the CVM is the recognition of the primacy of EU law and the fact that the final word on the interpretation of EU law is in Luxembourg at the European Court of Justice (CJEU), she explained.

She stressed that the European Court of Justice's decisions are legally binding.

"I must say that it was not a pleasant surprise, it was something we did not expect," she stated, speaking about the Romanian Constitutional Court challenging the primacy of the EU law.

"We believe that Romanian judges, who are also European judges, must be able to apply EU law without fear of being penalized for it. And I had an opportunity to have a very good discussion with the President of the Constitutional Court," she explained.

"We also want to see the stabilization of the status of magistrates, all the security measures that protect their independence," commissioner Jourova stated.

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