Preliminary assessment of the second payment request of Romania

Committee identifies and approves the annual priorities for climate policies. These are set out as duties that Committee members shall carry out, with decisions taken at working meetings of the committee (Section II, paragraph 4) The Regulation specifies that these “priorities may be of a legislative, financial or fiscal nature closely linked to the development and promotion of public policies for green investments or the establishment of the methodological or administrative framework”. The priorities shall be formally approved annually by the Government and an Action Plan shall be adopted on the steps to achieve each proposed priority, clear deadlines for delivery for each step and the responsible institutions. Article 3(2) of the Government Decision states that annual priority climate policies proposed by the Committee “will be subject to annual approval by the Government”. The Regulation states in Section IV, paragraph V.3, point j) that the Committee will identify and approve “the annual set of priorities and the action plan on the milestones for the achievement of each priority, which will include the timelines for

each stage and responsible institutions”. The Operational Arrangements require that the Inter-Institutional Climate Committee supports the General Secretariat of the Government with the implementation. The Government Decision states in Article 2(2) that the members of the Committee are the Prime Minister of Romania, the head of the Prime Minister’s Chancellery, the head of the Climate and Sustainability Department of the Presidential Administration, 14 other ministries represented at Ministerial or State Secretary level, and agencies responsible for meteorology, statistics, and strategy. Since the chair of the Inter-Institutional Climate Committee is the Prime Minister of Romania (or, in his or her absence, the Head of the Prime Minister’s Chancellery), the Committee directly supports the Prime Minister, who in turn appoints the Secretary- General of the Government. Therefore, the membership in the Committee of the Prime Minister, who is hierarchically superior to the General Secretariat of the Government, ensures that the Committee will support the General Secretariat of the Government with the implementation.

Commission Preliminary Assessment: Satisfactorily fulfilled

Related Measure: Ensuring the independence of the judiciary, enhancing its Number: 421 quality and efficiency Name of the Milestone: Entry into force of the government decision approving the strategy for the development of the judiciary 2022-2025 Qualitative Indicator: Provision in the government decision indicating the Time: Q1 2022 adoption of the strategy for the development of the judiciary Context: Milestone #421 is part of reform C14.R5, which aims to strengthen the independence of magistrates, making the functioning of judicial institutions more efficient, in accordance with the relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and taking into account

recommendations made in reports under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (hereinafter referred to as “CVM reports”), reports by the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (hereinafter referred to as “GRECO”) and the opinions of the Council of Europe’s European Commission for Democracy through Law (hereinafter referred to as “Venice Commission”) and the Rule of Law Reports. Milestone #421 provides for the adoption and entry into force of the government decision approving the strategy for the development of the judiciary (hereinafter referred to as “the Strategy”), comprised of two pillars: (i) policies to strengthen the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law; and (ii) policies to strengthen institutional capacity concerning resources, processes and management, and policies on the quality and efficiency of services in the judiciary. Milestone #421 is the first step of the implementation of reform C14.R5 and has been followed by

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