Romania exposed to EC sanction

Romania is still exposed to the risk of being sanctioned by EC as part of the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification (MCV), sanctions which, according to procedures, can suspend the voting right in the Council, in the context of a tendency to render the accession to the Schengen Space and the Euro zone conditional on the commitments from MCV, Mediafax informs. The warning is included in a ministerial document which presents in a general way the safeguard clauses which can be applicable to Romania after the accession date.

The document recalls that, in compliance with the Community rules, it is possible to apply safeguard clauses or equivalent measures stipulated in the EU treaties, valid over an undetermined period, and sectorial safeguard clauses. According to the quoted source, the European Commission can adopt measures in the case of Romania until January 1, 2010, through sectorial clauses, but, once adopted, they can be extended after this date until the problems are remedied; the main domains in which the failure to fulfill the assumed commitments could conduct to the activation of the safeguard clause regarding the internal market for Romania are agriculture and the management of the structural and cohesion funds.

The document contains also a distinct chapter regarding MCV, created for Romania, and recalling that the EC officials have established a procedure of control of the progress registered in the reform of the judicial system and the fight against corruption.

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