ROMANIA:Romanian prosecutors have asked President Traian Basescu for permission to investigate his agriculture minister, just as the EU considers withholding billions of euro of vital aid to the country's farmers over the government's failure to implement key reforms.
"The prosecutor general has notified the president . . . so that he may order the criminal investigation against farm minister Decebal Traian Remes for abuse of power," the prosecutor's office said.
Mr Remes has denied having any link with former agriculture minister Ioan Muresan, who was detained last weekend for allegedly giving "a high official around €15,500 on behalf of a businessman who wanted, in return, preferential treatment in a tender process", according to Romania's anti-corruption agency.
Mr Remes rejected suggestions in the local media that he was the unnamed "high official", and insisted that he "had done nothing to be blamed for".
Prosecutors are still awaiting presidential clearance to investigate corruption allegations against justice minister Tudor Chiuariu and labour minister Paul Pacuraru because the committee which assesses such requests is suspended pending reorganisation.
Corruption watchdog Transparency International says Romania is the EU's most graft-riddled member. Brussels has criticised the Bucharest government for not doing enough to eradicate fraud at all levels.
Romania is also braced for a poor report from the EU today on the progress of agricultural reform, a crucial area for a country with one of the biggest farming sectors in the bloc. A report by agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel is expected to prompt the European Commission to give Bucharest one more month to fix faults in its agricultural payments system or risk losing some crucial farm subsidies. "To avoid sanctions . . . [ Romania's] agency for payments and intervention in agriculture drafted a plan to remedy deficiencies," the agency's head Dan Gherghelas said this week. The agency said a system for calculating and authorising subsidy payments to farmers would be ready by the end of October.
