Est. 2min 06-06-2008 (updated: 28-05-2012 ) corruption_02.jpg Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Languages: Français | DeutschPrint Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Despite Bucharest’s now regular reporting to Brussels on a series of crackdowns on petty bribery, high-level politicians in the EU appear immune to such investigations, meaning a crucial monitoring report by the Commission on corruption in Romania, expected this July, could still be rather damning. Romania’s action plan to eradicate rampant corruption in the country is displayed as a top priority by the government but the latest national anti-corruption report mainly relates minor criminal cases. It notably gives accounts of numerous examples of policemen subjected to bribery having refused large sums of money in exchange for “favourable solutions”. Bucharest also reports intensive campaigning against corruption via posters and advertising. These, according to the Romanian authorities, have resulted in better transparency and an improvement in the quality of the services provided to the citizen. However such statistics on petty crime indictments and ad campaigns may not be sufficient to meet Brussels’ expectations for the country to conform to European standards. Commission spokesman Mark Gray said recently that “what we don’t see is prosecutions, particularly in the area of high-level corruption”. The Romanian constitutional court recently ruled that all investigations of high-ranking politicians must first get approval from Parliament. This move has since led to legal action being dropped against five top level politicians, including former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase. Romanian President Traian Basescu reacted with anger, calling the constitutional court “a shield for corruption”. This could have been an important test case for the country to show its commitment to the judicial reforms demanded by Brussels, but commentators believe that Romania’s political class will never relinquish its immunity from prosecution. Read more with Euractiv Berlusconi backs down on jailing immigrantsItalian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has backtracked over a controversial bill that would make illegal immigration a criminal offence following heavy criticism from the United Nations, the Vatican and within the European Parliament. Subscribe now to our newsletter EU Elections Decoded Email Address * Politics Newsletters Positions Monica Macovei, formerly Romanian Justice Minister, said corruption is ongoing in the country, pointing out that all the major mayors running for office in the country's recent local elections have at one time been indicted for public corruption. At a discussion organised by the European Policy Centre, she underlined that even though Romanian government members and some high-ranking politicians were indicted for corruption and fraud, the judges keep postponing the hearings. Macovei also pointed out at regress since Romania joined the EU. In 2006, in the run-up to EU membership, the government passed anti-corruption measures under which bankrupt companies would not be eligible for state aid. However, immediately after EU accession, an emergency ordinance was passed which suspended aspects of this law for 28 named companies, she said. The new Justice Minister Catalin Marian Predoiu was quoted by the Times as stating recently in London: "It is fair to say that reforms lost speed". He added: "But we have a new attitude now: we really want to solve this problem." The minister believes he has good accounts of progress on three of the four benchmarks set by the Commission: on a new legal framework (writing the new civil and criminal codes); setting up a National Agency for Integrity; and reforming local bureaucracy to squeeze out small-scale corruption. BackgroundBulgaria and Romania joined the EU in January 2007 under precise conditions. There are three areas where the EU may invoke safeguard measures against them, according to their Accession Treaties: economic, internal market and judicial reforms. The safeguard clause can be invoked up to three years after accession and could result for example in food export bans or cuts in EU funds in areas such as agriculture and "structural" policies (EURACTIV 05/02/08). Timeline 16 Jul. 2008: Commission expected to publish its latest report on the post-accession monitoring of Bulgaria and Romania. Further ReadingEU official documents Commission:Report On Progress in Romania under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism(4 February 2008) Governments Romania:Report on AGD progress within the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism Romania:National Anticorruption Strategy Press articles The Times:Romania and Bulgaria must act now to end the corruption at its heart
