European Council president uses Malta stage to condemn Romania

The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, took the opportunity to publicly condemn Romania while addressing the media at Villa Francia in Lija.

Rompuy this morning arrived to Malta to hold discussions with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in what they described as a "follow-up meeting" to the Brussels summit.

"I am very concerned about current developments in Romania regarding the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, which are fundamental principles on which our Union is based," Van Rompuy told the Prime Minister and journalists.

"I will contact the Romanian Prime Minster and President to discuss this issue."

The governing coalition in Romania has vowed to go ahead with a vote to impeach President Traian Basescu, declining to wait for a decision from the constitutional Court to rule on a move to impeach Basescu.

Basescu has been accused of overstepped his authority by meddling in government and legal affairs.

Last week, the leaders of the eurozone met in Brussels to discuss combining short-term action to stabilise the markets, medium term actions to stimulate growth and together with a longer-term vision on the way forward to strengthen our Economic and Monetary Union.

Describing the meeting with Gonzi as "very fruitful", Van Rompuy said that "establishing a longer-term perspective for the euro area is a pressing priority".

During the meeting the two sides also discussed the economic situation in Malta and the reforms planned by the government and also exchanged views on the Arab Spring, in particular developments in Libya and Egypt.

"On immigration, I have reiterated the challenges that we face and that we depend on the European Union's solidarity," the Prime Minister said.

Gonzi reiterated that Malta was against the revision of the cost of live adjustment mechanism and the increase of the retirement age.

"While we look forward to improve the method of consultation, we have national consensus on both issues, not only from the political parties but also by the social partners," he said.

Van Rompuy was seemingly irked by questions by the press over to what extent the EU wanted to impose taxation: "We don't impose. We propose and we reach an agreement. In this case, we all agree that we needed a more financial integration to safeguard the euro."

He said that a better integration of the euro required a supervisory body - the European Central Bank - but the competencies of the ECB needed to first be established.

On the Financial Transaction Tax, Van Rompuy said that the EU needed unanimous approval to change taxation laws and so, if the member states would continue to oppose it, another form of tax would have to be reconsidered.

"Member states are now looking for an alternative ... we are more flexible than most people think," he said.