Commission Report 2002 (Romania)

Introduction

The political criteria for accession to be met by the candidate countries, as laid down by the Copenhagen European Council in June 1993, stipulate that these countries must have achieved ``stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities''.

In its 1997 Opinion on Romania's application for EU membership, the Commission concluded:

``Romania's new institutions are democratic and their stability now seems guaranteed. They do, however, need to be anchored by greater respect for the primacy of law at all levels of the apparatus of State. Elections are free and fair; they led to a genuine change-over in November 1996.

There remain a number of shortcomings with regard to respect for fundamental rights, even if the measures adopted and the undertakings given by the Romanian authorities since November 1996 are steps in the right direction. For instance, much still remains to be done in rooting out corruption, improving the working of the courts and protecting individual liberties from the activities of the police and secret service campaign or in the course of criminal proceedings.

By the same token, even if the Hungarian minority seems well integrated (given the recent improvement in its situation), the same cannot be said for the Roma (gypsies), who constitute a sizeable minority in the country.

Lastly, the reforms concerning the protection of children in orphanages are a major step forward but have still to bear fruit.

The improvement now under way since the new government came to power suggest that Romania is on the way to meeting the political conditions laid down by the Copenhagen European Council''.

In its 2001 Regular Report, the Commission found that:

``In its 1997 Opinion, the Commission concluded that Romania fulfilled the political criteria. Since then, the country has made considerable progress in further consolidating and deepening the stability of its institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities. Over the past year, further positive developments have been noted. Romania continues to fulfil the Copenhagen political criteria.

The efficiency of the legislature has improved considerably as has the overall functioning of government. The reform of judicial procedures has continued and effective implementation of new legislation on public procurement should play an important role in the fight against corruption - although corruption remains a serious problem that is largely unresolved. Other particular concerns are the lack of progress in carrying out a strategic reform of the public administration and the need to further guarantee the independence of the judiciary.

Significant progress has been made in the field of human rights. Reform of the childcare system is well under way; homosexuality has been decriminalised; and important new legislation has been passed regarding the restitution of property and the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees. The introduction of probation represents an important reform of the penal system and several initiatives have been taken to address trafficking of human beings. Future reforms should seek to modernise the Penal Code and increase the public accountability of police officers as well as ensure the proportionality of their actions. Efforts to improve the actual living conditions in childcare institutions should continue.

New legislation extending the use of minority languages was approved, and a National Strategy for Improving the Condition of Roma adopted. Efforts now need to focus on the implementation of the strategy, with the aim of effectively combating widespread discrimination, and improving living conditions.

Romania has addressed the short-term Accession Partnership priorities related to the political criteria by improving the conditions of institutionalised children, making progress with the reform of childcare policy, developing a national strategy for Roma, and taking measures to provide support to minority programmes. As regards medium-term priorities, progress has been made towards meeting the medium-term priority related to childcare, and initiatives have been taken to increase the Roma's access to education. However, important actions are still needed in other areas: the Roma strategy has not yet been implemented; anti-discrimination legislation has been adopted but it is not yet operational; and the demilitarisation of the police has not yet started''.

The section below provides an assessment of developments in Romania, seen from the perspective of the Copenhagen political criteria, including the overall functioning of the country`s executive and its judicial system. Such developments are in many ways closely linked to developments regarding Romania's ability to implement the acquis, in particular in the domain of justice and home affairs. Specific information on the development of Romania's ability to implement the acquis in the field of justice and home affairs can be found in the relevant section (Chapter 24 - co-operation in the field of justice and home affairs) of part B.3.1. of this Report.

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