European Parliament Resolution. The text that will be adopted on Tuesday condemns the August 10 police intervention, contains 13 recommendations for Romania

The text of the European Parliament resolution that will be debated and put up for vote on November 13 signals the EU institution’s concern about the amending of the Romanian criminal and judicial legislation from the standpoint of its potential to undermine the independence of the judicial system and the fight against corruption. The document, posted on the European Parliament’s website, contains 13 recommendations for Romania and European Union institutions in what concerns the judicial system and the fight against corruption. At the same time, if the resolution is adopted, the European Parliament condemns “the violent and disproportionate intervention by the police during the protests in Bucharest in August 2018.” The European Parliament resolution on the rule of law in Romania includes the following recommendations: Stresses that it is fundamentally important to guarantee that the common European values listed in Article 2 of the TEU are upheld in full, and that fundamental rights as laid down in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union are guaranteed; Is deeply concerned at the redrafted legislation relating to the Romanian judicial and criminal legislation, regarding specifically its potential to structurally undermine the independence of the judicial system and the capacity to fight corruption effectively in Romania, as well as to weaken the rule of law; Condemns the violent and disproportionate intervention by the police during the protests in Bucharest in August 2018; Calls on the Romanian authorities to put in place safeguards in order to assure a transparent and legal basis for any institutional cooperation and avoid any interference that upsets the checks and balances system; calls for parliamentary control over the intelligence services to be reinforced; Urges the Romanian authorities to counter any measures which would decriminalise corruption in office, and to apply the national anti-corruption strategy; Strongly recommends reconsideration of the legislation on the financing, organisation and functioning of NGOs with regard to its potential intimidating effect on civil society and its entry into conflict with the principle of freedom of association and the right to privacy; believes it should be brought fully into line with the EU framework; Expresses its deep concern regarding political restrictions on media freedom and the proposed legislation that would penalise denigration of Romania abroad and reintroduce defamation in the criminal code; Urges the Romanian Parliament and Government to fully implement all recommendations of the European Commission, GRECO and the Venice Commission, and to refrain from conducting any reform which would put at risk respect for the rule of law, including the independence of the judiciary; urges continued engagement with civil society, and stresses the need to address the issues referred to above on the basis of a transparent and inclusive process; encourages proactively seeking evaluation by the Venice Commission of the legislative measures at stake before their final approval; Calls on the Romanian Government to cooperate with the European Commission, pursuant to the principle of sincere cooperation as set out in the Treaty; Reiterates its regret that the Commission decided not to publish the EU Anti-Corruption Report in 2017, and strongly urges it to resume its annual anti-corruption monitoring in all Member States without delay; invites the Commission to develop a system of strict indicators and easily applicable, uniform criteria to measure the level of corruption in the Member States and evaluate their anti-corruption policies, in line with Parliament’s resolution of 8 March 2016 on the Annual Report 2014 on the Protection of the EU’s Financial Interests; Advocates strongly a regular, systematic and objective process of monitoring and dialogue involving all Member States, in order to safeguard the EU’s basic values of democracy, fundamental rights and the rule of law and involving the Council, the Commission and Parliament, as proposed in its resolution of 25 October 2016 on the establishment of an EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights (the DRF Pact); reiterates that this mechanism should consist of an annual report with country-specific recommendations; Calls on the Commission, as guardian of the Treaties, to monitor the follow-up given to the recommendations by the Romanian authorities, while continuing to offer full support to Romania in finding adequate solutions; Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the President of Romania.

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