The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) and the liberal Renew Europe group urged the European Commission on Tuesday to consider freezing €770 million in EU funds earmarked for Romania.
In a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen seen by Euronews, the leaders of the two groups, Manfred Weber and Valérie Hayer, called for money from the EU’s post-pandemic Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) to be withheld, arguing that it could “inadvertently contribute to undermining Romanian democracy.”
At the heart of their concerns is a disputed law that they say could target liberal leader and Timișoara Mayor Dominic Fritz, a prominent political figure in Romania.
The law governing integrity in public office, recently approved by Romania’s Parliament, could remove Fritz, the leader of the Save Romania Union (USR), from office over a previous conflict-of-interest case.
A provision introduced by the Romanian Socialist Party (PSD) stipulates that officials with a final conflict-of-interest finding, whose three-year sanction period has not yet expired, would have their mandates terminated within 30 days of the new law entering into force.
Fritz, a German national who was first elected mayor six years ago, was found to have been involved in an administrative conflict of interest in connection with an urban planning document he approved in 2020.
According to a final ruling by Romania’s High Court of Cassation and Justice last June, the document had been prepared by a company belonging to an architect and USR local councillor who had supported Fritz’s election campaign.
Weber and Hayer argue that applying the amendment retroactively would violate both Romanian and EU law, accusing the PSD and the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) of instrumentalising the legislation.
“Public statements by senior PSD and AUR leaders leave no doubt that the amendment was specifically designed to target a single individual,” the letter reads.
According to the EPP and Renew Europe leaders, the Commission should “make it unequivocally clear” that the disbursement of EU funds is conditional on respect for the rule of law. They also urged Parliament to reconsider the legislation.
The Senate, the decision-making chamber, is due to vote on the bill on Wednesday. If definitively approved, the law could be promulgated soon, as it is among the remaining reforms Romania must complete by the end of August to access the post-pandemic funds.
If Romania’s reforms are deemed insufficient to meet the milestones agreed with the Commission, the country could lose part of the €770 million, depending on which targets have not been met.
A Commission spokesperson said on Tuesday that the EU executive had received the letter and that “the integrity law will be assessed as part of the last payment request” to be submitted by Romania.
Behind the letter lies a wider political battle in a country currently governed by an interim government and marked by growing political fragmentation.
The PSD brought down the previous governing coalition, led by centre-right Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, through a no-confidence vote supported by AUR.
An unusual alliance between left-leaning and far-right forces could now form a new government, as the PSD, AUR and the ultra-nationalist SOS party hold a majority of seats in Parliament.
Euronews Romania contributed to this article.
The PSD delegation in the European Parliament was contacted for this article.