Foreign embassies concerned by penal code amendments on corruption passed in Romania’s Chamber of Deputies

After the Chamber of Deputies passed on Tuesday amendments to the penal code through which MPs and the president are excluded from the category of public workers, limiting anti-corruption investigations against them, foreign embassies expressed their worries that such changes impact Romania’s rule of law.

The newly approved provisions will also apply to persons working in liberal professions, based on a special law and that are not financed by the state budget, such as lawyers and notaries.

President Traian Basescu stated it will send back to Parliament the bill, adding the amendments are “dramatic” and “destroy decades of work and activity of anticorruption institutions” such as the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) and the National Integrity Agency (ANI).

“It is very discouraging that these revisions were passed with no consultation, no debate, and no opportunity for judicial authorities or civil society to respond to the proposed amendments,” said the US Embassy in Bucharest in a statement.

“This move by the Parliament is a step away from transparency and rule-of-law and is a discouraging sign for investors, which will negatively affect Romania’s economy. Transparency, predictability and stability are critical factors for all investors, domestic and international, when they consider where to invest,” it added.

Martin Harris, the UK Ambassador to Romania, said it was important for the DNA and the ANI to be backed by everyone, including politicians, because they represent “the reform engine in Romania.”

The Netherlands Embassy said it “watches with concern the amendments (en. to the penal code) and expected future developments,” according to Mediafax newswire.

The DNA said that the cases of 28 MPs are currently in different prosecution stages in courts, and they could be acquitted or exit jail, because of the new amendments. Under the approved changes, the exempted categories such as MPs would not be prosecuted by the DNA for acts of corruption such as bribery and abuse of office.

Mark Gray, a spokesperson for the European Commission (EC), told news portal www.hotnews.ro that any changes in the anti-corruption framework will be included in the next Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification (MCV) report. This is a tool used by the EC, the executive arm of the EU, to asses the judicial reform and the fight against corruption for Romania and Bulgaria, where fight against organized crime is also evaluated.

“We have mentioned in the previous reports – and I think the position of the EC is clear – when we are referring to officials holding legislative, executive, administrative or legal positions, they have to abide to regulation on corruption and conflict of interest. The principle according to which all citizens are equal in front of the law is very important for the EC,” said Gray for hotnews.ro

The Germany Embassy in Bucharest said in a statement for hotnews.ro it was decisive that “the activity of various institutions that support, protect and develop the rule of law”, such as the DNA and the Constitutional Court, “to be carried out without political pressure and independently”.

Ovidiu Posirca

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