EU Says Romania Needs More Efforts To Tackle Judicial Reform, High-Level Corruption

BUCHAREST (Romania), July 23 (SeeNews) – Romania needs to put more efforts into the reform of its judiciary and the fight against corruption, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

“Overall, the situation in Romania is a mixed picture. The fundamental elements of a functioning system are in place. But the foundation is still fragile and decisions on high level corruption are highly politicised. Commitment to reform by Romania’s key institutions and bodies is uneven,” the EU executive said in its monitoring report on Romania

The country joined the EU together with its southern neighbour Bulgaria in January last year.

“While progress on judicial reform has been made, there is a need for the system to show there are penalties for high level corruption. The Commission strongly encourages Romania to intensify its reforms.”

Romania needs to ensure a more transparent, and efficient judicial process notably by enhancing the capacity and accountability of the Superior Council of Magistracy, report and monitor the impact of the new civil and penal procedures codes.

It also has to establish, as foreseen, an integrity agency with responsibilities for verifying assets, incompatibilities and potential conflicts of interest, and for issuing mandatory decisions on the basis of which dissuasive sanctions can be taken, the Commission said.

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