Romanian President: No Safeguard Clause Or Restrictive Fin Measures - Important, But Not Enough

The head of state said in a press conference Thursday that, beyond the positive and negative aspects of the EC’s monitoring report on Romania, one thing is certain: compared to January 1, 2007, when it joined the European Union, Romania has made progress in the justice sector, which helped avoid the safeguard clause and the application of restrictive measures on the use of EU funds.

"These are two important aspects, but they are not enough. We would have wanted more,” Basescu said.

The president added the adoption of the country’s new Criminal and Civil Codes before the adoption of their relevant procedural codes was the right decision, although it was criticized by numerous politicians.

"Politicians did only half the job. It would have been more encouraging had they adopted the procedure codes too,” Basescu said.

The head of state said the only institutions that were praise by the EC in the report are those where he issued decrees appointing heads, referring to the head of the National Anticorruption Department (DNA) Daniel Morar and prosecutor general Laura Codruta Kovesi.

The European Commission adopted Wednesday the progress reports on progress made in the justice sector and fight against corruption in Romania and Bulgaria. The report indicates conditions are not met for triggering safeguard clauses, but monitoring will continue under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism and the Commission’s next report will be issued in the summer of 2010.

The report stated Romania has gained momentum in achieving reform but, to be able to demonstrate sustained progress, the judicial reform process should not be politicized.

The Commission recommended the timely follow up by judicial and disciplinary bodies to cases submitted by the National Integrity Agency concerning unjustified wealth, incompatibilities and conflicts of interest and invites Romania to assess the impact of the two legal codes and carry out a proper public debate on the criminal and civil procedure codes, which should be adopted as soon as possible.

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