Romania’s Parliament Adopts Revised Version Of Integrity Agency Bill

The ANI bill had been amended by the committees for legal matters at President Traian Basescu's request. Senate committees rejected Tuesday most of the propositions Basescu had included in his reexamination request.

Senators rejected the president's proposition to reorganize wealth checkup committees, as well as the proposition that public officials should state whether any of their relatives conduct, themselves or via companies, business with taxpayer money.

Senators also rejected the request to extend to three years the one-year deadline by which checkups targeting wealth statements, data regarding wealth, patrimony modifications while filling public offices, as well as checkups on issues concerning interest conflicts can be prescribed.

The committee adopted the president's proposition which says that people who run for head of state, deputy, senator, county or local councilor, county council president and mayor should also file wealth statements.

Senators also agreed to eliminate an article, which was initially included in the draft law, whereby modifications brought to correct untrue wealth and interest statements, before by agency initiates a course of action to call attention on the fact, is not considered a criminal offence.

Senators included a new article which stipulates that wealth statements must be renewed within 90 days after the law is published in the Official Journal.

During debates in the Senate, Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu said that, if senators vote in favor of the revised version proposed by the committee for legal matters, Romania shows its lack of interest regarding the mechanism for cooperation and verification. Predoiu highlighted that the European Commission's report on Romania's progress in the justice system is directly influenced by the new ANI law to be adopted.

Romania's integrity agency bill was adopted on June 22 through the definitive vote of the country's Chamber of Deputies, after Basescu had resent the draft law to Parliament, following a Constitutional Court ruling, which stripped it of its main attributions in screening public officials wealth and interest statements.

Romania's integrity agency, was set up in 2007 at the European Union's recommendation to make public officials more accountable and crack down on endemic corruption. It has targeted politicians and officials in all parties.

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