In June, Romanian Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu said after a meeting with Gunther Krichbaum, president of the Bundestag’s committee for European affairs, that he expects the EC report on Romania’s justice sector would reflect the progress the country made over the past year.
According to some EU member states, a final decision regarding Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen Area may depend on the conclusions of the EC justice report.
The European Commission’s interim report on Romania’s progress under the CVM, published on February 18, said Romania’s main challenge regarding judicial reform in the coming months “will be to prepare successfully for the entry into force of the four new codes” – the laws for the Civil and Criminal Codes and the laws for the Procedure Codes.
The report also said the Romanian Anticorruption Department (DNA) maintained “its convincing track record in investigating high level corruption”, but high-level corruption cases have seen little movement in court.
Romania should focus on measures improving the celerity of high-level corruption trials and strengthening general anti-corruption policy until the European Commission’s next assessment, said the interim justice report.