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Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said she was "outraged and disappointed" about the conclusions of the CVM (Co-operation and Verification Mechanism) report of the European Commission on Romania, considering, among other things, that the arguments of the Romanian Government were totally ignored by those who drafted the document.
The PM added that, in her capacity, she cannot, under any circumstance, accept "that imperative recommendation by which an official document of the European Commission tells us to suspend the laws that were voted in the Romanian Parliament and validated by the Constitutional Court."
"Such request I believe it's an interference in the constitutional order of a Member State and, at the same time, a violation of the European treaty. Moreover, it's totally unacceptable that they ask us to immediately suspend the procedures of removal or appointment of some chief-prosecutors, for this would be a brutal intervention in matters that are related to Romania's sovereignty. As long as we observe the laws of our country, and as long as we observe the Romanian Constitution, built in agreement with the EU principles, nobody has the right to get involved in our internal procedures regarding the appointments in the justice field. Also, it's not fair that we are told to resume the procedure on removing or appointing some prosecutors, when in Germany, for instance, the prosecutor general was removed in one single day for having accused the Justice Minister that he did not observe justice independence. There is no resolution concerning Germany in the European Parliament and no CVM reports, which makes us wonder: why such difference?," said Dancila.
The PM also referred to the 18 questions that she received from EC First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, regarding the justice laws and criminal codes.
"I answered them in good faith, while being certain he wanted a clarification after the toxic propaganda some did in Brussels. I offered him legal arguments. I haven't seen any of these arguments appearing in the CVM report and so I wonder: what was the purpose of the 18 questions received from Mr First Vice-President Timmermans? Why ask someone if you weren't the least bit interested in what that person had to say? I only ask respect for Romania, equal treatment for Romania in Europe, equal rights and treatment for the Romanian citizens. I believe that we cannot accept Romanians to be scolded for something that everybody does in Europe or to be asked things that nobody does in Europe and I believe that this is how Romania should be treated; I will say this again, that I am disappointed and I don't think it's fair they ignore the official position of the Romanian Government," said Dancila.
On Tuesday, the European Commission recommended Romania, under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism, to immediately suspend the implementation of the justice laws and subsequent emergency ordinances and revise them considering in full both the recommendations of the Venice Commissions and the ones of the Group of States Against Corruption of the Council of Europe (GRECO).
"Developments in the past 12 months in Romania are throwing a shadow or pushing back some of the progresses made in the past ten years, for which reason the European Commission came with eight new recommendations under the CVM report for Romania," the First Vice-President of the community Executive, Frans Timmermans, stated in Strasbourg.
