Rovana Plumb’s candidacy for the position of European Commissioner for Transport was rejected by the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs on Thursday, National Liberal Party (PNL) MEP Siegfried Muresan announced on his Facebook account. “Without the opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs the hearing of the Transport Committee cannot take place,” he added.
“Breaking news. Rovana Plumb’s candidacy has been rejected now, by a wide majority, by the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee. Six MEPs voted for Rovana Plumb. Fifteen MEPs voted against Rovana Plumb. Two MEPs abstained,” MEP Siegfried Muresan (PNL) posted on Facebook on Thursday.
The vote comes after the European Parliament’s JURI Committee heard Plumb in relation to the discrepancies in her wealth statements.
Prior to the hearing, the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) sent a letter to Rovana Plumb, candidate for European Commissioner, demanding clarifications regarding an 800,000 euro loan and some company shares which were not included in the wealth statement she filed in Brussels.
Ciolacu: PSD has 10 backup options
Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, the Social Democrat Marcel Ciolacu, said on Thursday, regarding the rejection in the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs of Rovana Plumb’s candidacy for the position of European Commissioner, that several steps must be taken and the vote in the European Parliament has not taken place yet, noting that the Social Democratic Party (PSD) hasn’t got only one backup option but 10.
“I haven’t read the news, let me do some research, I knew it was still in the Committee …. It was at that Committee, not at the vote in Parliament. You see that there are some stages, some committees, until the vote in Parliament… that was due later on,” said Ciolacu, in Parliament, asked about what the PSD will do after Rovana Plumb is rejected in the European Parliament Committee.
Asked if the PSD has a backup, Ciolacu replied: “You know as well as I do that the PSD does not only have one option, it has 10 backup options.”
President Iohannis: Rejection of Rovana Plumb’s candidacy, new PSD Gov’t failure which damages Romania
President Klaus Iohannis states that the rejection of Rovana Plumb’s candidacy for the office of European Commissioner represents “a new major PSD Government failure” which damages Romania. He asks Premier Viorica Dancila to urgently withdraw the nomination and come up with a new one after she secures his assent and Parliament’s greenlight.
“The European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee’s rejection of Rovana Plumb’s candidacy represents a new major PSD Government failure which damages Romania. We have new proof of the incompetence of Premier Viorica Dancila, who thought that you can promote people to leadership positions in the European Union based on party recommendations and recommendations made by friends. (…) I ask Premier Viorica Dancila to urgently withdraw the nomination for the office of European Commissioner. (…) The PSD export incompetence outside the country’s borders through repeated political actions that profoundly affect Romania’s image. In order not to amplify the damage already caused to our country, I imperatively ask Premier Viorica Dancila to urgently come up with a new nomination for the portfolio of European Commissioner, only following the Romanian President’s assent and with Parliament’s greenlight,” the Head of State pointed in a press statement on Thursday.
The Head of State mentions that he told the Premier, from the start of the procedure to nominate Romania’s European Commissioner, not to nominate Rovana Plumb because she did not meet the integrity and professionalism requirements.
“There was an obvious risk that such a nomination would be rejected within the European Parliament, and the Premier had the obligation to avoid it. My warning has been confirmed by the Legal Affairs Committee’s vote today. The hearing within the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee is an exceptional procedure that has been used now precisely because of the very serious integrity problems of the candidate nominated by the PSD,” President Iohannis points out.
