Brussels slams Romania on corruption as EU presidency nears

Immediate action needed to stop backsliding, Commission says.

The European Commission accused Romania on Tuesday of backsliding in the fight against corruption — the latest in a series of blows to Bucharest as it prepares to take over the EU’s rotating presidency.

In its annual report on the administration of justice in Romania, Brussels told the government to “suspend immediately” efforts to reform the judicial system and criminal code and appoint a new anti-corruption prosecutor. The Commission also cast doubt over whether it would be able to end special scrutiny of Romania’s anti-corruption efforts before the EU executive’s term ends next October.

“I regret that Romania has not only stalled its reform process, but also reopened and backtracked on issues where progress was made over the past 10 years,” Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans said. He described recent developments as “really, really saddening.”

The Commission’s conclusions are in marked contrast to its view on Romania’s neighbor, Bulgaria. The Commission found Sofia has made “steady progress” in its fight against corruption and Brussels may be able to end special scrutiny of the Bulgarian justice system within a year.

The report on Romania was among the most critical the country has seen since it joined the EU in 2007. Its conclusions reflect a view within the Commission and among Western European governments that Bucharest is softening its stance on corruption and heading down the same path of democratic backsliding as Poland and Hungary.

Also on Tuesday, the European Parliament adopted a resolution saying it is “deeply concerned” that judicial reforms in Romania risk undermining the fight against corruption. The resolution passed with 473 votes in favor, 151 against and 40 abstentions.

The criticism from the EU came against a backdrop of increasing political volatility in Romania.

On Monday, President Klaus Iohannis, a former leader of the National Liberal party, said the Social Democrat-led government is not ready to take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, which starts on January 1.

Over the weekend, EU Affairs Minister Victor Negrescu, a former MEP, unexpectedly resigned for reasons that remain unclear.

During its first-ever tenure in the Council presidency, Bucharest will be charged with sealing agreement on a number of key policy issues before May’s European Parliament election and will preside over Britain’s departure from the EU.

Critics accuse the Romanian government of trying to push through legal changes that weaken the independence of the judiciary and help politicians accused of corruption. The government’s moves sparked massive protests across the country, with one demonstration in August ending with a violent police intervention that was widely viewed as disproportionate.

Brussels is also concerned about the government’s dismissal earlier this year of Laura Codruța Kövesi, the chief anti-corruption prosecutor, whose office has secured many high-profile convictions of politicians.

Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă received a chilly welcome in the European Parliament in Strasbourg last month, when she clashed with Timmermans over the rule of law in Romania. Dăncilă said then that the Commission’s monitoring reports do not give the full picture of events in Romania.

Both Romania and Bulgaria had to sign up to the so-called Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), which monitors and helps implement judicial reforms to combat corruption, when they joined the European Union in 2007. The annual reports issued on Tuesday are part of that program.

“It’s a marathon and it would be a tragedy if in the last few hundred meters of the marathon the runner would start running in the wrong direction,” Timmermans said.