Romania responds to EU criticism

01/09/2010

In the wake of a scathing assessment by Brussels, Romania's parliament moved to lift a key agency out of constitutional limbo.

By Paul Ciocoiu for Southeast European Times in Bucharest – 01/09/10

Romania's parliament moved last month to re-establish the ANI's powers to investigate high-ranking officials. [Getty Images]

Romania has taken a step towards meeting EU justice standards by adopting a new law on the National Integrity Agency (ANI), a state body entrusted with controlling the assets of politicians and other important public figures. The country came under criticism in a July report by the EU on the progress of judicial reform.

"I can characterise the senate's vote as a positive evolution," ANI Secretary-General Horia Georgescu told SETimes after last week's vote. "I believe the EC's latest report on justice has weighed very much on the senators' vote."

The ANI had been crippled for several months after a constitutional court ruling in April which overturned portions of the previous law governing the agency. As a result, more than 4,000 cases were suspended.

With the impasse dragging on, Brussels urged Romania to take action and correct the legislation.

"Parliament was aware of the consequences of this report as concerns its political accountability before the citizens, as well as the external consequences, that affect Romania's interests," Georgescu said. On August 24th, parliament's upper house voted 78-0 to adopt the new law.

Senators from the Social Democratic Party, however, chose to abstain. According to party leader Victor Ponta, the revised law doesn't fix the problems with the old one.

"We will abstain from voting [until] the Romanian government ... comes up with a bill that respects both the demands of the European Commission and the decisions of the Constitutional Court," Ponta said.

Although they did not cast votes, PSD senators did attend the parliamentary session in order to ensure a quorum.

The new law restores a series of provisions that were previously removed. These include establishment of investigatory committees subordinated to Courts of Appeals and a single wealth statement form, with sections for jewellry, accounts and real estate.

It also requires public officials to declare any contracts with state authorities in their statements of interest. Both the wealth and the interest statements become public.

Furthermore, the law enables ANI to investigate officials for up to three years after they have left office.

The bill now moves to President Traian Basescu for signing.

"The most important gains are that the wealth and interest statements are still public and the paragraph requested by the Romanian president -- which compels the dignitaries to transparently declare publicly-funded contacts -- brings an extra instrument in fighting conflicts of interests in public acquisitions," Georgescu said.

He added that the ANI expects the legislation to be challenged again. As for cases put on ice by the earlier court ruling, they will go back to square one.

"All these investigations will have to be resumed from scratch," he said. "Two years of work were annulled. Many investigations will be lost because the three year limit has been exceeded."