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National Integrity System Assessment Romania Barents Sea Norwegian Sea Atlantic Ocean Baltic Sea North Sea Bay of Biscay NATIONAL INTEGRITY SYSTEM ASSESSMENT Black Sea ROMANIA Mediterranean Sea www.transparency.org.ro 0 210 420 Miles 0 210 420 KM Transparency International (TI) is the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption. Through more than 90 chapters worldwide and an international secretariat in Berlin, TI raises awareness of the damaging effects of corruption and works with partners in governments, business and civil society to develop and implement effective measures to tackle it. Transparency International Romania (TI-Ro) is a nongovernmental organization whose primary objective is to prevent and fight corruption on a national and international level, mainly through researching, documenting, informing, educating and raising the awareness level of the public. TI-Ro was founded in 1999. That same year, Transparency International Romania was accredited as a national chapter of the Transparency International movement. Publisher: Transparency International Romania Lead Researcher: Iulia Coșpănaru, Deputy Director, TI-Ro Authors: Iulia Coșpănaru, Deputy Director, TI-Ro (Chapters 4, 6.3, 6.5, 6.9) Irina Lonean, PhD candidate, TI-Ro (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.1, 6.2, 6.4, 6.6, 6.8, 6.9, 6.10, 6.11, 6.12, 7) Ruxandra Mitică, PhD candidate, TI-Ro (Chapters 6.5, 6.9), Georgeta Ionescu (Chapter 6.7), Iulia Drăjneanu, Ti-Ro (Chapter 6.13) Translators: Ioana Cărtărescu, Miruna Maier, Ioana Lungu Research review: Suzanne Mulcahy, Transparency International Secretariat Catherine Woollard, Consultant: Implementation of anti-corruption and governance reform Project Coordinators: Irina Lonean, PhD candidate, TI-Ro Paul Zoubkov, Transparency International Secretariat First published December 2011 This publication is a product of the European National Integrity System project. The national Integrity assessment Tool has been developed and coordinated by Transparency International. Reproduction in whole or in parts is permitted, providing that full credit is given to Transparency International and Transparency International Romania and provided that any such reproduction, whether in whole or in parts, is not sold unless incorporated in other works. ISBN …. © Transparency International Romania Disclaimer Every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of the information contained in the report. All information was believed to be correct as of November 2011. Nevertheless, Transparency International Romania cannot accept responsibility for the consequences of its use for other purposes or in other contexts. This project has been funded with support from Prevention of and Fight against Crime Programme European Commission – Directorate-General Home Affairs. The publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Prevention of and the Fight Against Crime. With financial support from the Prevention of and the Fight Against Crime Programme. European Commission – Directorate-General Home Affairs 1 Acknowledgments We would like to thank all of those who contributed to this report, and in particular those who were interviewed by the research team, some of whom have asked to remain anonymous; the Research Advisory Group, whose insights and support were invaluable; the authors of the National Integrity System Assessment 2009 (launched in 2010), who served as a basis of the present analysis; our colleagues in other TI national chapters within Europe, who have shared their experiences of NIS research and project management; and our colleagues at the TI Secretariat for assistance in the project design and methodology. Research Advisory Group: Marian Popa, TI-Ro President Alic Saiciuc, TI-Ro Vicepresident Adela Salceanu, TI-Ro Vicepresident Victor Alistar, PhD, Executive Director of TI-Ro and Reader of the National School of Political and Administrative Studies Cristian Pirvulescu, PhD, Dean, of the Faculty of Political Science, the National School of Political and Administrative Studies and the President of Pro-Democracy Association Interviewees 1: Georgeta Ionescu, former Secretary General of the Chamber of Deputies Cristian Pîrvulescu, the Dean of the Faculty of Political Science, the National School of Political and Administrative Studies and the President of Pro-Democracy Association Mihai Seitan, former Labor Minister and State Secretary Horatius Dumbravă, judge, presindent of the Superior Council of Magistracy George Bălan, prosecutor, vice-president of the Superior Council of Magistracy Mădălina Afrăsinie, judge at the Bucharest Tribunal Alic Saiciuc, prosecutor at the Prosecutors’ Office attached to the Bucharest Court of Appeal Carmen Rosu, director of the Central Finance and Contracting Unit of the Ministry of Finances Paula Tanasescu, Public Manager at the Prefect Institution in Bucharest Marian Gruia, National Syndicate of the Police and Contractual Personnel Emil Păscuț, Diamond Trade Union of the Romanian Police Marian Muhuleț, the Vice-President of the Permanent Electoral Authority Erzsébet Dáné, Deputy Ombudsman for human rights, equal opportunities, minorities and national religious cults Jănică Arion Ţigănaşu, General Director of the General Anticorruption Directorate Genu Radu, Deputy Director of the General Anticorruption Directorate Radu Nicolae, Center for Legal Resources Ioana Avadani, Executive Director of the Centre for Independent Journalism Adina Anghelescu Stancu, investigative journalist Viorel Micescu, Executive Director of the Resources Centre for Civil Society Oana Preda, Executive Director of the Resources Centre for Public Participation 1 Interviewees who asked to remain anonymous have not been named. 2 CONTENTS 1. About the NIS assessment 2. Executive summary 3. Country Profile 4. Corruption Profile 5. Anti-Corruption Activity 6. NIS pillars 6.1. Legislature 6.2 Executive 6.3. Judiciary 6.4. Public Sector 6.5. Law enforcement – Police 6.6 Electoral management bodies 6.7. Ombudsman 6.8 Supreme audit institution – Court of Accounts 6.9. Anticorruption agencies 6.10. Political parties 6.11. Media 6.12. Civil society 6.13 Business sector 7. Conclusions and recommendations 8. Bibliography ANNEX 1: Summary tables of NIS pillars 3 ACRONYMS ACA - Anticorruption agencies AEP/PEA – Permanent Electoral Authority AmCham Romania – the American Chamber of Commerce in Romania ANI – National Agency of Integrity ANRMAP - National Authority for Regulating and Monitoring Public Procurement BAEAAR/CECCAR – Body of Expert and Authorized Accountants in Romania BVB – the Bucharest Stock Exchange CAN – National Audio-visual Council CFAR – The Chamber of Financial Auditors of Romania CNI – National Council of Integrity CNSC - National Council for Solving Complaints (Public Procurement) CSM – Superior Council of the Magistracy CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility DB – Doing Business DGA – General Anticorruption Directorate DNA – National Anticorruption Directorate EC – European Commission EMB - Electoral management bodies EU – European Union FIC/CIS – Foreign Investors Council ICCJ – High Court of Cassation and Justice IP – Intellectual property MCV – Mechanism of Cooperation and Verification MF – Ministry of Public Finances MIF – Monetary International Found MJ – Ministry of Justice MP – Member of the Parliament NIS – National Integrity System NSC/CNVM – The National Securities Commission OUG – Emergency Ordinance of the Government ONG – Non-governmental organisation PPP – Private-Public Partnership PS – Public sector TI- - Transparency International TI-RO – Transparency International Romania TI-S – Transparency International Secretariat UCVAP - Unit for Co-ordination and Verification of Public Procurement WTO – World Trade Organization 4 1. ABOUT THE NIS ASSESSMENT 1.1. Introduction to the methodology Romania continues to be monitored under by the European Commission the Mechanism of Cooperation and Verification for its performance in fighting corruption that stays one of the most important problems of the society, one of the top priorities on the government agenda 2 and one of the first limitations to economic development. In this context, analysing the National Integrity System is essential in assessing the vulnerabilities to corruption within the country’s institutions. Moreover, a series of high profile corruption cases in the private and public sectors has highlighted the urgent need to confront corruption in Europe. Seventy-eight per cent of Europeans surveyed for the EU Commission’s 2009 Eurobarometer believed that corruption was a major problem for their country. Corruption undermines good governance, the rule of law and fundamental human rights. It cheats citizens, harms the private sector and distorts financial markets. This report is part of a pan-European anti-corruption initiative, supported by the DG Home Affairs of the European Commission. The initiative looks to assess systematically the National Integrity Systems of 25 European States, and to advocate for sustainable and effective reform, as appropriate, in different countries. 1.2. The aim of the assessment It is very important to underline that this is not a performance assessment and neither the assessment of the corruption level within each institution. The National Integrity System only assesses the vulnerabilities to corruption of the institutions and the study also provides a framework to analyse the effectiveness of a country’s institutions in preventing and fighting
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