Commission Report 2002 (Romania)

• Progress since the last Regular Report
• Overall assessment
• Conclusion

Chapter 24: co-operation in the field of justice and home affairs

Progress since the last Regular Report

Since the 2001 Regular Report, progress has been made in all areas of justice and home affairs apart from migration and drugs. However, the implementation capacity remains weak.

Romania adopted several pieces of legislation on data protection at the end of 2001 (see chapter 3 - Freedom to provide services). The Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data and its additional protocol were ratified in February 2002. A new directorate in the Romanian Ombudsman Office has been designated as the independent supervisory authority. A public register of all data-processing operations has been created on the basis of the new law.

As far as visa policy is concerned, over the past few years Romania has brought its visa policy largely in line with the policy of the EU. As a result, since January 2002 Romania has enjoyed a visa-free regime with all Schengen Member States. Romania adopted provisions that entered into force at the same time as the visa-free regime which stipulate that Romanian nationals travelling to countries where an entry visa is not required must prove that they have sufficient resources to cover the intended stay abroad, a return ticket and valid health insurance. Romania does not yet comply with the acquis as regards the list of countries whose nationals do not need a visa to enter the EU. During the reporting period bilateral agreements to lift visa obligation entered into force with Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malta and Venezuela. A visa obligation was introduced in January 2002 for nationals of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Romania has decided to introduce the visa obligation for nationals of FYROM from the beginning of 2003. Romania does not yet require visas for nationals of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine. New consular instructions entered into force in July 2002 stipulating that visas can only be issued by diplomatic and consular missions. This puts an end to the practice of issuing visas at border crossing points.

As regards external borders and Schengen, Romania presented a Schengen Action Plan in December 2001, which will be updated on a yearly basis. The process of decentralising the border police and providing it with a more manageable command structure has continued. Legislation on the Romanian state border and on the organisation and functioning of the border police was adopted and entered into force in May and in March 2002 respectively. The professionalisation of the border police has continued to improve through the ongoing replacement of conscripts with professional staff. The total number of posts within the Romanian border police is approximately 19 100, of which about 15 450 are filled.

An Inter-Ministerial Group for Integrated Border Management was established in October 2001 with the task of facilitating communication and co-operation between authorities responsible for border control activities. A memorandum for creating a joint single clearance for border control was concluded between the border police and the customs administration in February 2002 and entered into force in June 2002. Plans to conclude agreements on integrated border management with neighbouring states have not been successful to date. The gradual exchange of the old type of passports for a new type with additional security features started in January 2002, with old passports being replaced when they expire.

As regards migration, progress has been rather limited. With regard to uniform residency permits, Romania adopted in June 2002 legislation for the issuing of new Romanian identity and state border crossing documents for third country nationals. Over the last year, readmission agreements were ratified with Albania, Austria, Croatia, Hungary, the Republic of Moldova and Sweden. Agreements with Lebanon and Norway were signed. The Directorate for Aliens and Migration Issues, which is the central co-ordinating body, has concluded co-operation protocols with the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime and Drugs Traffic and with the national carrier in order to return illegal aliens to their country of origin or of departure. In June 2002 the Government concluded an agreement with the International Organisation for Migration on co-operation in the field of voluntary humanitarian assisted repatriation.

As regards asylum, in November 2001 Romania published the list of safe third countries and the list of countries where there is no risk of persecution. In an effort to better align with the acquis both lists were modified in August 2002. A Government Decision on refugee integration was adopted in November 2001. In March 2002 legislation was adopted establishing a procedure for reunification of refugees with their family members. This legislation remedies the most significant shortfalls in the previous legislation on family reunification.

While the number of asylum-seekers arriving in Romania has rose significantly from 1 503 in 2000 to 2 435 in 2001, but declined again in the first eight months of 2002, when a total of 796 applications were registered. At 4.8% in 2001, the combined approval rate of persons recognised as refugees and persons granted conditional humanitarian protection at first instance remained low compared to Western European countries. This rate has risen to 6.5% during the first eight months of 2002. There are three reception centres for asylum seekers with a capacity of 770 places. The National Refugee Office has sufficient staff and in 90% of the cases processed in 2001 a decision was taken within the legal deadline of 30 days.

In the field of police co-operation and the fight against organised crime, the Law on the Organisation and Functioning of the Police was adopted in May 2002 and the Law on the Status of Policemen was adopted in June 2002. In December 2001 a Law on the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Human Beings and an Action Plan for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings were adopted. The reform of the General Inspectorate of the Police, which started in 1999, should be achieved in 2002. In July 2002 Romania and Bulgaria signed a protocol aiming at combating trans-border organised crime more efficiently. Other international agreements were concluded with the Czech Republic, Armenia and Albania. In an effort to combat trafficking in human beings, in May 2002 legislation was adopted stipulating the sanctions for acts committed by Romanian citizens abroad or by stateless persons registered in Romania.

As regards the fight against terrorism, Romania adopted an ordinance sanctioning certain terrorist acts and certain encroachments upon public order as well as an ordinance to prevent the financial and banking systems being used to finance terrorist acts. An Inter-Ministerial Council has been set up to supervise the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1373/2001. In April 2002 the Supreme Defence Council (CSAT) adopted a National Strategy for Preventing and Fighting terrorism.

As far as the fight against fraud and corruption is concerned, in July 2002 the Parliament approved legislation establishing the National anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (see also section B.1.1. - Democracy and the rule of law). The new Office began functioning in September 2002. It transforms the present anti-corruption section within the General Prosecutor`s Office, and its territorial branches, into a structure with special status. The Head of the National anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office is appointed by the President of Romania based on a decision by the Superior Council of the Magistracy. This decision is in turn based upon a shortlist of names proposed by the Minister of Justice. As for Prosecutors, they are appointed by the Minister of Justice in accordance with recommendations made by the Head of the Office. The same procedure applies for revoking prosecutors` mandates. Romania ratified the Council of Europe Civil and Criminal Law Conventions in April and July 2002 respectively. The Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime was ratified in August 2002.

No significant progress has been made in the field of drugs. A joint unit of the border police and the customs administration was created to evaluate information concerning drugs trafficking in Constana harbour. Special joint control teams consisting of customs officials and representatives of the South Eastern co-operation Initiative (SECI) have been created. In 2001, 25 tonnes of drugs (including 41 kg heroin) were confiscated. According to Romanian figures for the first five months of 2002, 41 tonnes (including 70 kg heroin) were confiscated. In June 2002 Romania ratified the 1995 Agreement on Illicit Traffic by Sea. New legislation on precursors was adopted in June 2002.

As regards money laundering (see also Chapter 4 - Free movement of capital), in August 2002 Romania ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime. Regulations on organising and functioning of the National Office for the Prevention and Control of Money Laundering were adopted in May 2002. The National Office for Prevention and Control of Money Laundering Operations sent 143 cases to the General Prosecutor`s Office in 2001 and 157 cases in the first eight months of 2002. However, the number of criminal proceedings and convictions that followed these investigations has been very low.

As regards customs co-operation, anti-fraud control teams have been set up for preventing, detecting and sanctioning customs fraud. Twenty-seven mobile surveillance teams have been created in order to strengthen the control of customs operations. An Action Programme Against Corruption in the Customs Administration and a Sector Action Plan Against Corruption were elaborated as a part of the National Programme on Prevention of Corruption and the National Action Plan Against Corruption. At the beginning of 2002 the Code of Conduct and Discipline of the Customs Staff was issued. The Code defines proper and improper professional and personal conduct, the acts considered as generating corruption and the penalties that can be applied. In the first half of 2002 16 customs officers were fired for disciplinary reasons, including for corruption cases. Over the same period, 15 customs officers were suspended from duty following penal investigations into corruption cases. A number of co-operation agreements have been signed between the Customs Administration and other institutions such as the border police, the national police, the financial guard and the Office for Copyrights. In June 2002 an Emergency Ordinance on setting up ``single windows'' at the border crossing points of Romania was taken. Mutual assistance agreements were concluded with customs agencies from Bulgaria, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

As far as judicial co-operation in criminal and civil matters is concerned, Romania ratified the optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. The EU Joint Action of February 2002 concerning actions to combat trafficking in human beings and sexual exploitation of children has been partially implemented through the law on the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Human Beings, which was adopted in December 2001.

Romania also adopted domestic legislation transposing the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (including its first additional protocol) and ratified the additional protocol to the European Convention concerning the Transfer Abroad of Convicted Persons in December 2001.

Overall assessment

The data protection legislation adopted at the end of last year should be promptly implemented and the Ombudsman's Office should be given sufficient resources to enable it to function as a fully operational and independent supervisory authority. Romania should take steps to implement the acquis on the use of personal data in the police information system.

Romania has further aligned its visa policy with that of the European Union. However, further steps towards full alignment are required - in particular as regards the list of countries whose nationals need a visa to enter the EU and the list of countries whose nationals are exempted from such an obligation. Romania should take appropriate measures to make the features of the national visa sticker more secure. Administrative capacity remains insufficient: the National Visa Centre is understaffed and technical equipment available to visa issuing services remains poor. Romania should step up efforts to provide all diplomatic and consular offices with technical equipment for detecting forged and falsified documents, focusing in particular on high-risk countries.

As regards external borders, the process of modernising agencies and procedures has continued and more efficient structures have started to emerge. The Memorandum of Understanding concluded between the customs authorities and the border police is a positive development, provided it is fully implemented in practice. However, co-ordination between all border authorities needs to be further improved. The training system should be further developed to ensure that border controls are only carried out by specially trained professionals. Romania also needs to fully implement its plan to terminate the use of conscripts at all its borders by the end of 2002. There are currently over 3 600 vacancies in the border police and considerable efforts will be needed to fill these posts. The modernisation of equipment at border posts has continued but further investments are required. A multi-annual investment plan should be elaborated in order to speed up the modernisation of border infrastructure.

The Schengen Action Plan which the Romanian authorities have presented needs to be further elaborated and should cover all policy areas included in the Schengen acquis. A clear distinction should be made between the requirements that must be applied upon accession to the EU and those which are connected with the eventual Council Decision on the lifting of internal border controls. Romania should continue its efforts to establish an operational National Information System containing Schengen-compatible data.

As to migration, considerable efforts in terms of both legal approximation and administrative capacity are still required. Legislation needs to be amended in several areas such as entry and stay of third-country nationals for the purposes of employment, self-employment and studies, long-term residents and unaccompanied minors. In order to comply with the acquis, Romania must also introduce the possibility of lodging an appeal with suspensive effect against expulsion decisions and return measures. Romania has concluded 27 readmission agreements in total. It should continue these efforts, focusing above all on risk countries.

Since the adoption of the Law on the Status and Regime of Refugees in 2001 Romania`s asylum legislation has been made largely compatible with the acquis. Some shortcomings in this law have been addressed during the past year, although problems remain regarding the protection regime for persons who have been granted humanitarian protection, as well as concerning the non-refoulement principle and the detention of asylum-seekers.

The National Refugee Office has an adequate number of staff, who are generally well trained. However, training of personnel in other services directly involved in asylum and refugee matters (police, immigration and border guards) remains necessary. The recently modified lists of August 2002 are now in line with the criteria adopted in 1992 on countries in which, in general, there is no serious risk of persecution and on safe third countries. They are also in line with the Resolution adopted on 30 November 1992, on a harmonised approach to questions concerning host third countries.

In the field of police co-operation and the fight against organised crime, the newly adopted legislation should be implemented and an effective reform of the police should be carried out without delay. A co-operation agreement with EUROPOL has not yet been concluded but the pre-condition for such an agreement has been established with the adoption of data protection legislation. Romania has signed the 2000 UN International Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (Palermo Convention) and its additional Protocols on trafficking of persons and smuggling of migrants. The additional Protocol on firearms remains to be signed. Despite legislative progress and improvements related to the fight against trafficking of human beings, Romania remains an important country of origin, transit and to some extent destination of trafficked women and children. Efforts in this area will need to be sustained. Public confidence in the police remains low and efforts should continue to establish a more citizen-oriented police force.

The operational capacity of the police as well as the flow of information between all institutions working in the field of law enforcement, including the judiciary, will need to be improved. Statistical instruments for measuring the crime rate should be improved, while new methods of technical crime investigation, including the development of forensic investigation should be further developed. In terms of international police co-operation, Romania should further develop the network of police liaison officers and should continue to implement its obligations under the Pre-Accession Pact on Organised Crime.

Romania has taken appropriate measures in the fight against terrorism. It still has to ratify the 1999 United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.

When it comes to the fight against fraud and corruption a major concern remains the ineffectiveness of preventing and combating corruption related crimes. Romania should pay more attention to the fact that prevention through transparency and accountability standards is as important as repressive tools. The considerable role played by the Minister of Justice in the establishment of the National anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office could jeopardise its independence - a situation which may compromise the effectiveness of its operations. In order to strengthen the autonomy of the Office the status of the prosecutors, in particular the status of the chief prosecutor should be better defined. The criteria for deciding which cases need to be investigated should be reconsidered and clarified. Romania should intensify its preparations for alignment with the 1995 Convention on the Protection of the European Communities` Financial Interests and adopt the relevant legislation. Romania should ensure that the recently ratified conventions in this field are implemented in all their aspects.

As far as drugs are concerned, the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Fighting Against Drugs should be made operational as soon as possible and its capacity to improve policy co-ordination should be developed. The National Focal Point still needs to be established. Romania should speed up preparations for participation in the European Information Network on Drugs and Drug Addiction of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. It should adopt a national drug strategy in line with the EU Drugs Strategy 2000-2004.

Trafficking of drugs remains a problem and considerable efforts are needed to intensify the fight against it. In the first instance, Romania should strengthen both the administrative capacity and co-ordination of its law enforcement services, especially the police and customs.

Further steps have been taken in fighting money laundering and related crimes, especially as regards alignment with the acquis. The National Office for the Prevention and Control of Money Laundering has improved its enforcement record, mostly by creating a general framework for the reporting obligation of other institutions. However, the Office has insufficient staff to tackle the increasing number of cases it has to deal with.

Problems remain related to certain regulatory loopholes and further efforts are therefore required to step up inter-agency co-operation as well as to improve co-operation at the international level. Apart from continuous training for the staff of the National Office, specialised training should also be organised for police officers, prosecutors and judges dealing with money laundering cases.

Romania has addressed deficiencies in customs co-operation by setting up control teams and mobile surveillance teams and by signing co-operation agreements. Measures have also been taken to fight corruption in the customs administration. These should be implemented without delay. Training of customs officials in professional ethics should be further developed. Inter-agency co-operation needs still to be improved, especially between the border police and the financial guard, customs and the economic branch of the police specialised in tax crimes. In terms of legal approximation, Romania should start its preparation for accession, which will require the implementation of the Convention on Mutual Assistance and co-operation between the Customs Administration (Naples II) and the 1995 Convention on the Use of Information Technology for Customs Purposes.

As far as judicial co-operation on civil matters is concerned, Romania has continued to ratify the international conventions included in the acquis. However, in the civil area, Romania has still not ratified the Hague Convention of 1965 on Service of Documents; the Hague Convention of 1970 on the Taking of Evidence Abroad; the Hague Convention of 1980 on International Access to Justice; and the European Convention of 1980 on Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions Concerning Custody of Children. Romania should take further measures to ensure the implementation of the recently adopted Community instruments in the area of judicial co-operation in civil matters, notably as regards mutual recognition and enforcement of judicial decisions. Direct contacts between the competent judicial authorities should be made possible.

As regards judicial co-operation in criminal matters, Romania needs to start to prepare for the implementation of the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters. It should take the necessary steps to ensure the full implementation upon accession of the instrument applying the principle of mutual recognition and in particular the Framework Decision on the European arrest warrant and the Framework Decision on the execution of orders freezing property or evidence. Preparatory measures are needed in order to participate effectively in the European Judicial network, and in Eurojust.

Romania has ratified all the human rights instruments covered by the acquis.

Conclusion

In its 1997 Opinion, the Commission concluded that Romania was facing particular challenges in the justice and home affairs area. Romania had only made limited progress towards meeting the necessary conditions of the justice and home affairs acquis and it would be difficult to meet the (present and future) acquis requirements in the medium term. The Commission went on to say that the necessary progress in this field was dependent on a more general institutional reform which derived from the political process.

Since the Opinion, Romania has made steady progress, especially in the last two years. It has started to make fundamental reforms in most areas and has speeded up alignment with the acquis. Romania is now in the process of developing various multi-disciplinary strategies and started important reforms aiming at improving the functioning of its law enforcement bodies. A notable exception to this general trend is the judiciary. However, notwithstanding progress achieved, considerable further work remains to be done on legal approximation and above all on strengthening administrative capacity.

Negotiations on this chapter continue. Romania has not requested any transitional arrangements.

Romania should focus further efforts on legal approximation in areas such as migration, Schengen, co-operation in the field of drugs, and judicial co-operation. Romania should continue efforts to increase the administrative capacity and inter-agency co-operation of law enforcement bodies. Particular attention should be given to bodies in charge of combating fraud and corruption. Finally, major efforts are required to reinforce the capacity of the judiciary and to ensure its full independence.

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