Romania Nominates Second Candidate to European Commission

Dan Nica with other party leaders in 2014 (Wikimedia Commons)

The Romanian government nominated politician Dan Nica to serve on the European Commission after the country’s first nominee was rejected. The opposition party called these failures an “embarrassment” and scheduled a no-confidence vote for October 10.

Nica was previously suggested as a potential nominee; however, the government wanted to select a woman in order to improve the gender balance of the commission. As a result, they nominated Rovana Plumb to become the European Union’s commissioner of transport. After Romania submitted Plumb in September, the European Parliament rejected both Plumb and Hungary’s nominee for transport commissioner. This was the first time commission candidates were rejected before formal hearings.

The European Parliament (EP) expressed concern over Plumb’s involvement in a previous corruption case and questioned her about two undisclosed loans she took out that totaled nearly $185,000. The EP’s legal committee tweeted that Plumb would be “unable to exercise [her] functions [as commissioner] in accordance with the [EU] Treaties and the Code of Conduct” due to conflicts of interest. Plumb wrote back to the committee to argue that she had repaid her debt.

“I have offered to the creditor of the reimbursement two apartments I own in Romania,” Plumb explained, “Consequently, the debt that generated your concern does not exist any longer.”

The EP held a second vote after Plumb’s statement was released; however, she still failed to gain approval.

“In what democracies are deputies forced to vote until the desired result is obtained?” one French member of the committee asked.

After Plumb failed to gain the approval of the EP, Romania chose to nominate Nica, a member of the Romanian Parliament who has experience in parliamentary committees on EU issues and foreign affairs. However, Nica is not scandal-free either, as he was involved in a corruption case in 2003 nicknamed the Microsoft Dossier. Nica leased Microsoft licenses in exchange for significant bribes without opening a public procurement process, which was against the law. Ultimately he was not convicted because the statute of limitations had expired.

Romania has reserved Melania-Gabriela Ciot as a female alternative to Nica. Ciot has served as secretary of state for European affairs in Romania’s foreign ministry for two years.

The Romanian governing party made these nominations while the minority party prepares to hold a vote of no confidence, which could topple the majority party and completely change the list of candidates if Nica is rejected.

One Romanian member of parliament summed up his reason for voting no-confidence by claiming that Romania “could have been spared this shame if the social-democrat Prime Minister Viorica Dancila had sent a competent, credible, and honest candidate [to Brussels].”