Romania's political turmoil may hit Schengen bid
11.07.12 @ 16:36
By Honor
Mahony
BRUSSELS - Romania's current constitutional turmoil may ultimately
result in its longed-for entry into the EU's passport-free zone being delayed
still further, the European Commission has warned.
"I am seriously concerned about the rapidly evolving situation," EU
justice commissioner Viviane Reding said Wednesday (10 July) in
Brussels.
She said she “would not exclude that pressure will increase on the
European Commission to continue its special judicial and anti-corruption
monitoring of Romania “for several years.”
The commissioner then referred to “all the consequences member states
could draw from this for the development of the Schengen area, for instance, or
for the mutual recognition of judgements from courts in
Romania.”
The commission has been watching with alarm as the social democrat
Romanian prime minister, Victor Ponta, and the centre-right President, Traian
Basescu, have been engaging in an increasingly bitter turf
war.
The fight came to Brussels' attention at the end of June following a
dispute about who was eligible to attend an EU summit. The outcome saw Ponta
ignore a ruling of the constitutional court and attend the meeting
anyway.
Last week the parliament voted to suspend Basescu for exceeding his
powers - a move then upheld by the court and to be decided on in a referendum on
29 July.
Since Ponta came to office in May, he has replaced the speakers of both
houses of parliament and the ombudsman with loyalists. Since the summit
attendance dispute, he has launched a full attack on the constitutional
court.
The political machinations have raised eyebrows in other capitals too.
“Serious violations of the letter and spirit of EU values may raise
question about the last steps to Romania's full integration in the EU,"
Germany's foreign minister Guido Westerwelle said.
Romania and Bulgaria have been kept under special monitoring – known as
the cooperation and verification mechanism – since they joined the EU in 2007 in
a bid to keep anti-corruption reforms on track. The two were hoping to see the
monitoring ended this summer.
The monitoring has become entangled with Romania's hopes to join
Schengen, the EU’s borderless area.
The Netherlands alone had blocked Bucharest's bid, causing anger in the
commission and other countries for its non-yielding
stance.
But the commissioner's words indicate The Hague may now no longer be
isolated.
Reding, for her part, was due to discuss the issue with the Romanian
justice minister on Wednesday afternoon. Meanwhile Ponta himself travelled to
Brussels on Wednesday for meetings with fellow Socialists from the European
Parliament. The next day, he is due to meet the heads of the EU commission and
European Council.
"I will restate my unswerving commitment to democracy and the rule of
law. I will leave them in no doubt as to my determination to uphold the Romanian
constitution and European values," he said in a statement ahead of the Brussels
trip.
EU commissioners will discuss the Romania situation next week and then
"take conclusions."
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