Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with Romanian counterparts on tackling corruption in that country.

During his visit to Romania in January 2015, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), met President Klaus Iohannis and set out the positive impact that the Romanian government could have on the business environment by further tackling corruption and improving the predictability of impact of legislation.

The British Government will continue to carefully monitor the development of the rule of law and the fight against corruption including by encouraging Romania’s ongoing efforts towards meeting the benchmarks of the EU’s Cooperation and Verification mechanism. We continue to expect Romania, as with all other EU Member States, to respect and abide by its obligations to comply fully with the laws and values of the Union, including judicial independence.