Romania regresses on all fronts in its fight against corruption

Vineri, 4 iulie 2008, 9:15 English | Top News

Romania witnesses a regression on all fronts in its fight against corruption: all measures taken before receiving the European Union membership have been deliberately abandoned by both the Government and the Parliament and the country is basically where it was in 2003, a November 2007 peer report reveals. The report, set up by Belgian prosecutor Willem de Pauw, an EC justice expert, declares that all high corruption cases have been blocked , prosecutors are pressed by the media and the Justice minister and judges avoid taking up important cases, according to The Economist.

Commission spokesman Mark Gray said the analysis has nothing to do with an EC report on Romanian justice expected in July this year. But EC sources say the monitoring would be influential on the report.
 
The report has been kept a secret by EU officials, The Economist reads.

Last week, EU ambassadors met with Romania's House of Deputies Judicial Commission members and expressed their concern regarding the high corruption cases blocked in the Parliament.

Sources within the Commission say that the July report would take into account both warnings and appreciations expressed by de Pauw but the safeguard clause will not be activated.