On 28 June 2022, the President of the Constitutional Court of Romania, Mr Marian Enache, received the visit of Ms Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, in the context of the rule of law dialogue between the Commission and the EU Member States
The interview was attended by Mr Benke Károly, first assistant magistrate, Ms Claudia-Margareta Krupenschi, assistant magistrate-in-chief, Ms Marieta Safta and Ms Cristina Titibuchia, assistant-magistrates of the Romanian Constitutional Court, and Ms Ramona Chiriac, Head of Representation of the European Commission in Romania, Ms Renate Nikolay, Head of Cabinet of the Vice-President of the European Commission. Ms Simona Constantin, Member of Cabinet, Ms Anca Păduraru, Political Rapporteur of the Representation of the European Commission in Romania, Mr Christian Wigand, Spokesperson and Ms Maria Arsene on behalf of the Representation of the European Commission in Romania.
During the discussions, Mr Marian Enache pointed out that the decisions of the Constitutional Court embed values and principles common to both the national and the European legal order. He pointed out that, by their generality, these concepts may give rise to controversy in the national and European legal areas, but the way to resolve them is the permanent dialogue between the constitutional courts and the CJEU, reason why he referred to the dialogue initiated by the CCR with the CJEU by way of a preliminary question formulated in 2016 and resolved in 2018 (Coman cCase and Decision No 534/2018). The dialogue must be two-fold in the sense that the CJEU is also interested in the views of constitutional courts, even by formulating amicus curiae opinions. A better understanding of the Constitutional Court’s decisions requires a structured dialogue with all EU institutional layers.
Ms Věra Jourová pointed out that the priority of the application of European law is a component of the principle of legal certainty at European level and that the European Commission must ensure that the principles of the rule of law do function. She stressed that justice reforms were supported by the European Commission and welcomed the idea of an open dialogue with the Constitutional Court in order to better understand and receive its decisions.
Both sides expressed their readiness for institutional dialogue and for further integration of European values and law into the constitutional justice process.