EC vice-president in Bucharest

The EC vice-president for values and transparency, Vera Jourova, had talks in Bucharest with president Klaus Iohannis and PM Marcel Ciolacu

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Leyla Cheamil, 31.10.2023, 14:00

The EC vice-president for values and transparency,
Vera Jourova, was on an official visit to Romania on Monday, when she had
talks with president Klaus Iohannis. The topics included the rule of law and reforms in the
judiciary, as well as support for Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East.
Another topic was Romania’s Schengen
accession. The country’s inclusion in the border-free area remains on stand-by,
after Austria vetoed the accession, which had already been postponed repeatedly.

The EC vice-president also discussed the topic with
PM Marcel Ciolacu, who thanked the EU official for the support given to Romania’s
efforts in this respect. PM Ciolacu also discussed the rule of law, ways to
fight disinformation and the digital transition.

Vera Jourova also had a meeting with the justice
minister, Alina Gorghiu, and the chiefs of the country’s major prosecutor’s
offices. My message for the authorities is that Romania is doing well in terms
of the judicial system. There are still new laws that must be implemented, and
this must be done not for Brussels, but for the Romanian people, who need
access to a very well designed judicial system, the EC vice-president said.

The agenda of the talks also included the recommendations
in the Rule of Law Report, the special pensions law and the measures to ensure
human resources, given that as of next March around 600 new magistrates will
join the system after passing the National Magistrate Institute exam and the
magistrate exam based on 5-year length in service.

We are careful to endorse predictable
legislation, to have consistent activity in the National Anti-Corruption
Directorate, to ensure the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and
Terrorism Offences tackles important issues, from drug trafficking to human
trafficking, Alina Gorghiu pointed out.

Also on Monday, Vera Jourova visited the
European Cybersecurity Competence Centre in Bucharest. The topics discussed
there included Romania’s participation in the Digital Decade programme, the
implementation of the reforms in the Digital Transformation component of the
National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the performance of the European Cybersecurity
Competence Centre and the importance of cyber security.

There is huge potential in this country, we have
schools that train experts, and a large number of women compared to other
member states, Vera Jourova said. She also mentioned that, under the National Recovery
and Resilience Plan, EUR 5 bln are earmarked for digitisation, the 5G network,
education, e-government and business digitisation. (AMP)