BUCHAREST, May 12 - Romania watered down powers of an EU-backed anti-graft agency on Wednesday, after a court branded some of its activities unconstitutional last month.
Romania’s efforts to weed out corruption are watched closely as its centrist government seeks to prove its resolve to tackle the problem ahead of a crucial EU report due later this year.
Under new rules passed on Wednesday, filing incorrect wealth statements will no longer be a crime and people running for public posts, including parliament, will not have to submit wealth and conflict-of-interest declarations.
Along with Bulgaria and Greece, Romania has some of the worst corruption practices among EU members, according to anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International.
Horia Georgescu, secretary general of the Integrity Agency, the anti-graft watchdog, said that under new rules, politicians’ personal wealth could no longer be kept in check by the public.
"Brussels will certainly notice this," he told Reuters. The agency’s creation was backed by the European Union in 2007.
In late April, the constitutional court ruled that its work was in breach of the constitution, saying its investigations had resembled that of the country’s legal authorities.
Under the changes, it will be impossible for civil courts to seize assets deemed illegal as prosecutors would have to present concrete evidence of criminal wrongdoing, Georgescu said.
His agency has about 100 Romanian lawmakers under scrutiny, or about a quarter of the country’s two-house parliament. Local media have reported it also wanted to investigate the finances of several magistrates of the constitutional court.
Democracy groups have criticised the constitutional court for ruling that prosecutors need parliamentary approval to investigate government members. That has effectively frozen many inquiries into suspected top-level sleaze cases.
In a report due over the next few months, the EU is expected to criticise Romania’s corruption levels and shortcomings in its justice system. Commission head Manuel Barroso has expressed concern about weakening anti-corruption efforts.
"Romania also needs to strengthen its efforts to register significant progress in judiciary reform and the fight against corruption," Barroso said after meeting Romania’s president last month. "I am concerned by the possible weakening of the National Integrity Agency following the recent ruling."
