EU Commission published the CVM report on Romania

The European Commission released the report on Romania's progress throughout the past year in terms of judicial reform and fight against corruption, under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), revealing a positive evolution towards the goals of the CVM, although there is still need of consistent improvement.

"Romania is on the right course and needs to stick to it. Tackling corruption remains the biggest challenge and the biggest priority. We welcome the progress achieved over the past year, which will need to be confirmed in 2015. Confidence among Romanians about the judiciary in general, and the anti-corruption prosecution in particular, has increased also in view of an increased professionalism in the judicial system as a whole”, said Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the Commission.

The report highlights the continuous efforts made by Romania in 2014 to combat high-level corruption which led to an increased confidence of Romanian citizen about the judiciary in general, and the anti-corruption prosecution in particular. 

Yet, the progress needs to be consolidated and further secured, believes the EU Commission.

“Whilst the implementation of the Codes (Civil, Civil Procedure, Criminal and Criminal Procedure) has shown the government and judiciary working together in a productive and pragmatic way, one year on, many legislative issues remain outstanding. There continues to be inconsistency in some court decisions, which raises concern. Decisions in Parliament on whether to allow the prosecution to treat parliamentarians like other citizens still seem to lack objective criteria and a reliable timetable. Parliament has also provided examples of reluctance to apply final court or Constitutional Court decisions. And whilst the recognition that general corruption needs to be tackled is certainly building inside government, the scale of the problem will need a more systematic approach”, explains the report.

According to the EU Commission, the next CVM report will be issued in about a year from now so as to allow Romania to implement new reforms based on the related recommendations given by the Commission. 

Until then, Romania's progress will be monitored closely and on a continuous basis with regular missions, as well as frequent dialogue with the Romanian authorities and with other Member States.