February 21 (SeeNews) - The European Commission on Thursday said Romania does not have jurisdiction in a probe opened by a special prosecuting unit for magistrates against top EU top officials.
“The EC has learned from the press that the Romanian authorities have launched a criminal investigation against several officials of the Commission, for their activity. Although we do not comment on national judicial matters, we would like to remind the Romanian authorities they have no jurisdiction in such matters," European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said during a press briefing in Brussels, as seen in a video file posted on the Commission's website.
"All European Commission officials, in official positions, are subjects to the Court of Justice of the European Union and are under the protection of the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities in the Treaties, accepted by all Member States, including Romania. We should remind that the EC representatives have expressed yesterday serious concerns on the situation of the rule of law in Romania," he added.
On Wednesday evening, justice news website luju.ro reported that the Romanian special investigation unit for magistrates and justice-related crimes has started an investigation into a complaint against EC vice president Frans Timmermans, EC vice president Vera Jourova, European justice commissioner Angela Cristea and Romanian prosecutor general Augustin Lazar.
The special prosecuting unit was also tasked with investigating Laura Codruta Kovesi, the ousted head of the country's anti-corruption agency, DNA.
Accoding to luju.ro, the officials are suspected of organised crime grouping, abuse of service, intellectual forgery, spreading false information, all related to a suspected 'forgery' of EC's Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) report published in November.
At the time, the ruling Romanian Social Democrat coalition criticised the report saying it was too harsh and that it does not reflect reality.
The report expressed concern over the justice ministry's repeated attempts to amend the legislation in a way that impacts the rule of law and the fight against corruption in Romania.
Despite this, on Tuesday evening, the government approved an emergency decree which changes justice bills, sparking criticism from the EC, president Klaus Iohannis and opposition parties.