#Romania2019.eu/Jourova on CVM: Keeping dialogue with Romania could help it return to path of changes in correct direction

Keeping dialogue with Romania is important to help this country return to the path of changes in the correct direction, on Friday said the European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Vera Jourova, after the closing of the informal reunion of the Justice and Home Affairs ministers of the EU member states, organised at the Palace of Parliament.

She therefore answered a question referring to the recommendations made to Romania by the European Commission in the last November report issued within the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM).

I read the conclusions of the yesterday meeting between the EC's First Vice President Timmermans and Prime Minister Dancila. They agreed upon furthering the dialogue, taking into account all of the relevant aspects and information to debate upon the ways to strengthen and maintain solid the judiciary's independence and impartiality in Romania; therefore, this is an ongoing dialogue and it is in my personal interest that we maintain this dialogue with the intention to help Romania return to the path of changes in the correct direction, which is what we have seen for many years after Romania's joining the EU, Vera Jourova asserted, at a joint press conference with the Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader.

In her opinion, the last CVM report's recommendations are heading to ensuring the independence of the judiciary and were made after a very detailed analysis of what is going on in Romania. So, we would not issue recommendations if we weren't expecting for Romania to take them seriously and implement them, naturally after assessing our recommendations' feasibility, the EC official stressed.

In the report published on 13 November 2018, the European Commission recommended Romania to cancel faster the enforcement of the laws of justice and the subsequent emergency ordinances and revise them by considering integrally the CVM recommendations and those voiced by the Venice Commission and the Group of States against Corruption with the EU Council (GRECO).

The European Commission noted in the CVM report's conclusions that the enforcement of the laws of justice, the pressure to the independence of justice, in general, and to the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) in particular, as well as a series of other measures undermining the efforts to combat corruption have had as result the cancellation of the progresses or the questioning of their irreversible character.