Corruption is the number one enemy of democracy, eroding the rule of law and especially citizens' trust in democratic institutions.
The fight against corruption also means fighting for transparent institutions that respect the law and the rights of Romanian citizens. The fight against corruption is also a fight of FACIAS!
Romania's situation in the European context is presented as a favourable one, with a visible evolution of the judicial system reforms.
Romania escapes the CVM, but surveillance continues in other forms
The Foundation for the Defense of the Citizen Against State Abuses (FACIAS) welcomes the European Commission's recommendation in the latest Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) report to stop monitoring Romania but warns that the European Union will have other surveillance tools at its disposal.
Although the period of applicability of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism should have been much shorter, we are glad of a so-called achievement 15 years later, a test of the maturity that Romania has passed by constantly looking at the "stick behind the door".
The CVM was established in 2007, with Romania's accession to the European Union, as a transitional measure to facilitate Romania's sustained efforts to reform its judiciary and step up the fight against corruption.
As early as 2021, the European Commission noted that Romania had made progress on the CVM recommendations, and after 15 years the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism could be stopped due to the progress made by our country on justice reforms.
Once the CVM is lifted, Romania would come under the EU's rule of law mechanism, which monitors compliance with the rule of law in all member countries. The regulation allows the Council to adopt, on a proposal from the Commission, protective measures such as suspending payments from the EU budget or suspending approval of one or more programs financed from that budget.
Thus, this mechanism, in force since 2021, allows the suspension of the payment of EU funds to a country where breaches of the rule of law are found which may harm the financial interests of the European Union.
The new justice laws will also be assessed under the specific procedure of Romania's National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Therefore, distrust of the Romanian systems will remain and will lead to the same attitude of coercion, only this time through other mechanisms.
Therefore, FACIAS believes that the state institutions should not consider it a first step that Romania will come out of the CVM but should be concerned about continuing the reforms with new legislation necessary for an independent justice system.
In the new monitoring context of Romania, the The Foundation for the Defense of the Citizen Against State Abuses will ensure that the actions and measures of the Romanian state are taken in accordance with the respect of the fundamental rights of citizens.