Romania: EU moves to end judicial reform monitoring
When Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007, the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) was introduced as a transitional measure to monitor the judicial reforms and fight against corruption in the two countries. The EU Commission has now ruled that the mechanism, which was already discontinued for Bulgaria in 2019, will end for Romania too. The justice systems of all EU states will be examined on an annual basis in the Rule of Law Report, which was introduced in 2020.
Not only Eastern Europe has these problems
Contributors finds it appropriate that the Rule of Law Report now provides a uniform control mechanism for all states:
“This report, which is prepared for all 27 EU countries, dispels the myth that only Eastern Europe has problems with the rule of law. In reality, all EU member states have problems that need to be addressed and solved. Some manage better than others. The switch to the Rule of Law Report system provides a pan-European perspective, whereas the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism only applied for Romania and Bulgaria.”
Pave the way for Schengen accession
G4Media.ro sees other reasons for the move:
“The CVM procedure in Brussels was also no longer politically justifiable, especially since the very same European Commission had recently proposed to the EU Council that measures be taken for Romania's rapid accession to the Schengen Area. You can't conclude that there are major problems with the judiciary in Romania while at the same time claiming that the country fulfils all the conditions for joining the Schengen Area.”