EC: Romania must revise justice bills, introduce lobbying rules for MPs, safeguard media freedom

 Romania must ensure a safe revision of its justice bills, introduce lobbying rules for members of parliament and safeguard the independence of media outlets, the European Commission recommended on Wednesday.   In addition to recalling the commitments made under Romania's National Recovery and Resilience Plan relating to certain aspects of the justice system, the anti-corruption framework and the legislative process, as well as the recommendations under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), the Commission made six specific recommendations to Romania under its newest Rule of Law Report.   Firstly, the country should ensure that the revision of the justice laws reinforces safeguards for judicial independence, including to reform the disciplinary regime for magistrates, the Commission said. Romania should also take measures to address remaining concerns about the investigation and prosecution of criminal offences in the judiciary, taking into account European standards and relevant Venice Commission opinions.   The EU's executive body also called on Romania to introduce rules on lobbying for MPs and address the operational challenges of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, including as regards recruitment of prosecutors, and closely monitor the impact of the new system on investigating and prosecuting corruption offences in the judiciary.   Romania must also strengthen the rules and mechanisms to enhance the independent governance and editorial independence of public service media taking into account the European standards in the area.   Finally, Romania needs to ensure effective public consultation before the adoption of draft legislation and continue efforts to establish a National Human Rights Institution taking into account the UN Paris Principles.   According to the report, the CVM in Romania continues in parallel to the rule of law mechanism, of which Romania is an integral part – as any other member state – until all benchmarks are satisfactorily met.   In its last report on Romania's progress on specific recommendations under the CVM published in June 2021, the EC noted that the country has made some advances in complying with the recommendations, but still needs to fulfil some of the guidelines set in the past years.   Since Romania's accession to the EU in 2007, Romanian reforms in the areas of justice and anti-corruption have been followed by the Commission through the CVM, as an important framework for progress in these areas.