February 20 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said on Wednesday it is greatly concerned about the effects of an emergency decree that Romania's Social Democrat government issued to change justice laws.
”The European Commission is following with great concern the latest development concerning the rule of law in Romania. Both the content and the procedure of the latest changes using emergency ordinances without any consultations with the judiciary and stakeholders seem to be in direct contradiction with the recommendations of the Commission under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), endorsed by all Member States," European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said during a press briefing in Brussels, as seen in a video file posted on the Commission's website. "Therefore, the Commission will seek explanations from the Romanian government on the latest changes," he added.
The government adopted the decree drafted by justice minister Tudorel Toader on Tuesday evening.
Schinas recalled that the EC November report urges Romania to put in place a robust and independent system of appointing top prosecutors and asked it to revise the justice laws taking fully into account the recommendations under the CVM.
The latest changes follow a different track, the official stressed.
"As we said before, Romania needs to very urgently put the reform process back on track. This means going forwards, not backwards and abstaining from any steps which reverse the progress accomplished over the past years," Schinas concluded.
One of the most controversial changes in the decree stipulates that high-level prosecuting units cannot be managed by an interim for longer than 45 days. The change targets the deadlock at Romania's anti-corruption agency DNA, which has been led by an interim for several months following the dismissal of Laura Condruta Kovesi.
The decree issued on Tuesday also removes the prosecutor general's control over the special prosecuting unit tasked with investigating the ousted DNA head Kovesi. The investigation started at the same time when she was nominated for the position of chief of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO). Since the nomination of Kovesi was announced, Romanian justice minister Tudorel Toader has said he would do everything legally possible to prevent her from getting the job.
The third change to legislation that the emergency decree crafted by Toader provided is the start of an internal selection for three candidates for the EPPO job which should be completed by end-March. The results of the selection process will be sent to Brussels, Toader said in a televised statement on Tuesday evening.
President Klaus Iohannis criticized the decree in a social media post, saying it tightens political influence over the judiciary.