On Tuesday, the Chamber of Deputies of Romania’s Parliament lifted Mihail Boldea’s parliamentary immunity, which gives prosecutors the green light for searches or even his arrest. Participating in the vote were also opposition deputies, though they are still on a parliamentary strike. However, the Boldea case is a fortunate one because as a rule, lifting an MP’s immunity had become an impossible mission in Parliament. Some MPs, including former ministers, escaped justice because of the votes in favour of the accused, owing to the so-called “parliamentary solidarity” shared by both ruling and opposition MPs.

On the day deputies lifted one of their colleagues’ parliamentary immunity, the Government approved the new anti-corruption strategy for the 2012-2015 period, which provides among other things for a simpler procedure in order to lift the immunity of MPs facing prosecution. The anti-corruption fight will concentrate on three key elements: prevention, education and combating, as Justice Minister, Catalin Predoiu stated. He made it clear that the strategy targeted all branches of the state, as well as the business environment, local officials and civil society.

The National Anti-Corruption Directorate and the National Agency for Integrity, institutions constantly commended in the European Commission’s reports, although subject to suspicions at home, are considered the main pillars of the anti-corruption strategy. Another first is the amending of legislation on the funding of political parties and election campaigns. It is worth mentioning that Romania ranks 25th among the EU member countries with regard to the perception of corruption.