The European Commission has welcomed written commitments made by Victor Ponta, Romania’s prime minister, in response to concerns about the rule of law in Romania.

In a statement, the Commission said that Ponta yesterday sent a letter explaining the steps that his government would take to address the EU’s concerns. Ponta and José Manuel Barroso, the Commission’s president, spoke on the phone yesterday evening, after which Ponta submitted additional commitments in writing.

“These additional commitments mean that, if implemented as announced, all the requirements outlined by President Barroso in his meeting on 12 July have been met, or will be met,” the statement said. “Effective and speedy implementation will therefore be crucial.” 

The Commission wants to make sure that a referendum on 29 July on the removal of Traian Băsescu, Romania’s president, takes place in an orderly manner and has asked Ponta and his centre-left government to lift a series of emergency measures imposed since the beginning of the month.

The college of European commissioners will adopt annual monitoring reports on Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU in 2007, in its weekly meeting tomorrow (18 July). Both draft reports have been leaked to the media.

The draft report on Romania says that the government’s recent actions “raise serious concerns about the respect of fundamental principles”. The report notes the “systematic nature” of the government’s actions and says that this raises “serious doubts about the commitment to the respect of the rule of law or the understanding of the meaning of the rule of law in a pluralist democratic system”.

“The Commission is in particular extremely concerned by the indications of manipulations and threats which affect institutions, members of the judiciary, and eventually have a serious impact on society as a whole,” the draft says. It goes on to say that recent events  “pose a serious treat to the progress achieved so far”.

In his bid to unseat the centre-right Băsescu, Ponta has replaced the speakers of both houses of parliament, sacked the ombudsman, changed the rules for the referendum to succeed, curbed the powers of the constitutional court and grabbed control over the publication of legal acts.

Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, conveyed their serious concerns about the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in Romania to Ponta in meetings in Brussels last week.

“The Commission will continue to monitor the situation, also in the context of the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism,” today’s statement said, a reference to the monitoring mechanism put in place when Romania joined the EU in 2007.