Governing coalition approves Integrity Agency

The Governing Coalition, which brings together the four parties forming the current government, approved the establishment of a controversial Agency for Integrity, a body aimed at checking the wealth statements of elected officials in Romania. The Government is due to pass the legislative act in this regard next week.

The document sets harsh penalties for parliamentarians who would not reveal their whole wealth in periodical statements. And the same parliamentarians are requested to go on summer leave later so that the legislation on the Agency for Integrity gets approved.

The initiative belongs to Justice minister Monica Macovei, who pushed for total independence for the body. But most of the political spectrum and the civil society reacted vehemently, arguing that such independence would be completely inappropriate as it would be prone to abuse.