Eurasia Press & News
BRUSSELS -The European Commission warned Romania Thursday to step up the fight against corruption and boost justice reforms after the government’s efforts to meet European Union standards tapered off recently.
“It is important that the Romanian authorities regain momentum on judicial reform and the fight against corruption so as to reverse certain backward movements of recent months,” a commission report said.
Romania and Bulgaria joined the E.U. Jan. 1, 2007, but owing to shortcomings in justice reform and dealing with corruption, the commission has kept an eye on developments through a special monitoring mechanism.
The E.U.’s executive arm said that Romania’s efforts had tapered off since its last report in July 2008 and that it was expecting better things when the next report was due this July.
“It will be crucial for Romania to achieve significant, irreversible progress by then,” the report said.
“Romania must demonstrate the existence of an autonomously functioning, stable judiciary which is able to detect and sanction corruption and preserve the rule of law.”
The commission said that by quickly treating outstanding, high-level corruption cases, Romania would be able to show that it can implement its laws independently and efficiently.
In the case of Bulgaria, the commission noted some improvement.
“These efforts must now be maintained and deepened to produce concrete results in the next six months,” spokesman Johannes Laitenberger told reporters.
Since joining the E.U., former-communist Bulgaria has remained under strict surveillance in several sectors – its justice system, management of E.U. funds, food safety and aviation security.
