EESC Fundamental Rights and Rule of Law Group concludes a visit to Romania

EESC Fundamental Rights and Rule of Law Group concludes a visit to Romania

On 11-12 June 2024, the Fundamental Rights and Rule of Law (FRRL) Group of the European
Economic and Social Committee (EESC) concluded a two-day visit to Bucharest.

This visit gave the opportunity to the group of six EESC Members to hear civil society representatives about key trends in Romania concerning fundamental rights of social partners, freedoms of association and assembly, freedom of expression (including media freedom), the right to non-discrimination, and the rule of law.

Participants in the discussions particularly highlighted:

• Frequent legislative changes and inconsistent application of laws
• Insufficient time for consultations on legislative proposals
• Lack of transparency in media ownership and political party influence on media content, and concerns about SLAPP cases
• Inefficiencies in judicial practices

The EESC delegation also discussed with the representation of the European Commission and the authorities of Romania.

A report will be issued in the coming months.

The visit was the second one of the FRRL Group to Romania, following a visit in November 2018 (report).

Background 

The EESC established in 2018 a Group on Fundamental Rights and the Rule of Law (FRRL Group), which is tasked to provide a forum for European civil society organisations to meet and discuss fundamental rights, democracy and the rule of law. The FRRL Group promotes respect for the European values listed in Article 2 TEU by raising awareness of and assessing the state of play of these values in the Member States and allowing for the exchange of good practices. To this end, the FRRL Group hosts hearings, conferences, and carries out country visits with the aim of identifying trends in Europe concerning fundamental rights and the rule of law, inasmuch as they develop in national contexts. 

Country visit reports are issued along with the observations of the authorities, a few months after the visits (they can be accessed here). The visit to Romania will be the second one of the second cycle of visits of the FRRL Group to all EU Member States. The Report synthesising the first cycle of country visits led in 2018-2019,  2020-2021 and 2022 are available. 

For more information about the EESC FRRL Group methodology, see this document. 

The delegation of the FRRL Group to Romania was composed of: 

• Jörg Freiherr Frank Von Fürstenwerth (GRI, DE) 

• Diana Indjova (GRIII, BG) 

• Rafal Bogusław Jankowski (GRII, PL) 

• Christian Moos (GRIII, DE) 

• István Komoróczki (GRI, HU) 

• José Antonio Moreno Díaz (GRII, ES