Senate President Tariceanu talks with Dutch counterpart about updating legislation in Justice area

President of the Senate Calin Popescu-Tariceanu met on Friday with President of the Dutch Senate Ankie Broekers-Knol, who is attending in Bucharest the works of the 19th meeting of the Association of European Senates (ASE), whom he discussed with about the vast process of updating our country's legislation in the area of Justice.

"Calin Popescu-Tariceanu underscored the role of Romania's Parliament in correcting the serious dissonances created by the non-observance of the constitutional provisions within the institutions involved in the justice reform of Romania. The Romanian dignitary reconfirmed that Romania reached an essential phase of the process of consolidating the rule of law, with legislative amendments aiming to guarantee the independence of justice, with the full observance of the citizens' rights and freedoms," a release of the Senate sent to AGERPRES informs.

Moreover, the Senate President also underscored the importance of a complete and direct information of the partners within the European Union regarding the reasons justifying the legislative reforms in the area of justice and national security, in order to guarantee the long-term democratic functioning of Romania. Furthermore, Tariceanu also showed that in the vast process of modernising the legislation of the justice area, all the actors of the mutual verification and control system stipulated by the Constitution are involved, and , in the future, it is desired to avoid the detected slippages by correcting them, as well as guaranteeing a solid democratic framework," the release mentions.

According to the quoted source, regarding Romania's accession to the Schengen Area, the Senate President reiterated that our country fully meets the accession criteria, actively contributing to securing the external border of the EU, being a de facto member of the Schengen. He informed his Dutch counterpart that for Romania joining the Schengen Area is a major political objective, taking into account that a positive and accelerated decision in this respect will contribute to strengthening and enlarging the security architecture of the EU, especially at its borders with its eastern neighborhood.

In terms of economic collaboration, Tariceanu appreciated the Netherlands presence as a first investor in our country, with an invested capital of 9.03 billion euro and 5,000 active Dutch companies in Romania at the level of December 2017. He showed Romania's interest in drawing Dutch investments in areas such as research, IT & C, environment, sea freight and agriculture.

In respect to the future of the European agenda, the Senate President underscored Romania's support for a thematic agenda through which the European project be strengthened, giving that "Romania's option is firm and strongly pro-European, in favor of a deep integration, based on the fundamental values and principles of unity, solidarity, equal treatment and convergence." Therefore, he pointed out that Romania supports any initiative designed to strengthen the EU, as long as it is promoted in an inclusive and open manner to all member states, based on clear objectives and criteria, the release informs. AGERPRES