Romania has made remarkable progress related to the rule of law, and the European Commission (EC) will not accept any steps back on this matter, EC president Jean-Claude Juncker said in a joint press conference with Romanian president Klaus Iohannis.

Iohannis was in Brussels on Wednesday, January 31, where he met with the EC president Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk. One of the themes discussed focused on the changes to the justice laws and the fight against corruption in Romania.

During the press conference, the EC president also warned that if the justice laws in Romania remain as voted by the Parliament, the talks on the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) and accession to Schengen “will be put in other terms”. However, he also said that Romania belongs in the Schengen area, and the commission “will not stop until the CVM is abolished.”

Juncker also referred to the allegation that he has been misinformed about the laws of justice, which was made by the leaders of the ruling coalition in Romania, Liviu Dragnea and Calin Popescu Tariceanu. The EC president said he is well informed about the decisions related to the rule of law.

In his turn, Romanian president Iohannis said that "the independence of justice is intangible,” and that he will do everything a president can do “to keep things this way.”

“I think we have a major problem with the laws of justice and the codes. But we have to solve this problem in Romania. The solution is in our hands and that is why I insisted on having legal solutions that satisfy the needs of the system back home and the generally valid criteria, the European values. I am optimistic about the final course, now we are in an intermediate phase,” Iohannis also said.

The EC president and first vice-president issued a joint statement last week expressing their concerns about the latest developments in Romania regarding the independence of the country’s judicial system and its capacity to fight corruption. In their turn, the Romanian coalition leaders Dragnea and Tariceanu called EC’s statement “surprising” and said that the EC was misinformed by “various sources from Romania” about the justice law changes.

Moreover, earlier this week, Liviu Dragnea accused the European Commission representation in Romania of sending false information to Brussels on the justice laws subject.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Klaus Iohannis on Facebook)