Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-09-12-Speech-3-306-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20120912.21.3-306-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, honourable Members, at the beginning of this summer we witnessed a combination of actions by the Romanian authorities, which called into question the rule of law, democratic checks and balances and the independence of the judiciary. We have built our Europe on judicial independence and on the respect for the rule of law. Those are fundamental values for our Union and the Commission, as guardian of the Treaty, has a duty to see that they are respected by all.
In the coming days President Barroso and I will be seeing President Băsescu. President Barroso will receive Prime Minister Ponta and I will receive the new Romanian Minister of Justice. Before the end of the year the Commission will prepare a report on Romania within the cooperation and verification mechanism, as announced in July. In this report we will critically assess whether the rule of law and the stability of institutions have been restored in Romania and whether confidence lost over the summer has been regained by the necessary cooperation among all political actors.
I am confident that this Parliament shares the Commission’s conviction that the rule of law and judicial independence are at the heart of the European Union and must be respected with impartiality in all 27 EU Member States. That is why the Commission calls on all political forces in this House and outside this House to act with responsibility and restraint in order to contribute to a stabilisation of the political situation in Romania. All political actors will have to contribute to this.
Let me be clear about the nature of the concerns the Commission expressed during the summer. They concerned respect for constitutional norms and judicial independence. They concerned the rule of law, because in Romania laws and emergency decrees were passed against constitutional practice with the aim of reducing democratic checks and balances, notably by imposing sudden limits to the powers of the constitutional court. At the same time, judges and prosecutors were subject to intimidation and pressure by political forces. Let me be very clear on the following: pressure on the judiciary is unacceptable regardless of which side of the political spectrum it comes from. That is why the Commission reacted swiftly and decisively.
On 6 July, in a press release, the Commission expressed concerns about the developments in Romania. On 11 July I met the Romanian Justice Minister in Brussels and President Barroso met Prime Minister Ponta the day after to share the Commission’s concerns about the developments in Romania. As a result of our exchanges, the Romanian Government made a number of important commitments in response to the eleven specific points that we had raised. The Romanian authorities addressed some of our concerns and, in particular, restored the constitutional norms, notably in the run-up to the referendum to impeach President Băsescu on 29 July. The referendum, unfortunately, did not bring an end to the political strife.
Following the referendum there was again evidence of pressure on judges and of prosecutors’ attempts to influence the circulation of the referendum turnout. President Barroso again set out the Commission’s concern in a letter to Prime Minister Ponta on 10 August. In this letter the Commission called upon the Romanian Government to cooperate fully with the constitutional court and to act swiftly and decisively on allegations of intimidation against judges.
Let me also recall that the Venice Commission echoed the Commission’s concern. The President of this Venice Commission stated on 7 August and I quote: ‘it is a general principle of the rule of law that pressure on any court, whether constitutional or ordinary, in order to influence its decisions, is inadmissible’ and he also appealed to ‘all state authorities and political parties of Romania to fully respect the independence of the constitutional court and to refrain from exercising pressures’.
On 21 August the decision of the constitutional court to declare invalid the referendum for the impeachment of President Băsescu was respected by all mainstream political forces. This is an important step because it provides an opportunity for the normalisation of political life. In this context the Commission urges all political forces to seize this opportunity.
The Romanian people deserve a political discourse based on policy arguments, not on personal attacks. I hope that the coming weeks and months will show that all political actors in Romania are determined to fully respect the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in a sustainable and irreversible way.
However, the situation in Romania remains fragile and requires our attention and support. Since Romania’s accession to the EU in 2007, the Commission has a particular responsibility – as the Minister has just said – to monitor progress on the rule of law and the judicial independence in Romania under the cooperation and verification mechanism.
The political developments in Romania over the summer were of particular relevance to this monitoring exercise. The Commission therefore set out in detail its concerns in its report on Romania, which was adopted by the Commission on 18 July. Not all concerns and recommendations by the Commission regarding the rule of law and judicial independence have been addressed. The Commission will therefore continue to closely monitor the situation in Romania and maintain close contact with the Romanian authorities."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples