Dominic Fritz’s removal has raised concerns over the rule of law, with both the EPP and Renew Europe calling for a change to the legislation. At stake for Romania is €770 million in EU funds.
The Romanian Senate approved on Wednesday the country's so-called integrity law, including a controversial amendment that will remove liberal leader Dominic Fritz from office as mayor of Timișoara.
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The bill was passed with 109 votes in favour and 19 against. Only senators from Fritz’s Save Romania Union (USR) party opposed it, despite the European People’s Party (EPP) raising concerns that it could undermine Romanian democracy.
The law is a milestone under Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, and its adoption before the 31 August deadline is instrumental to unlock €770 million in EU post-pandemic recovery funding.
It mandates that any public official subject to a final finding of conflict of interest will automatically lose their mandate. Fritz, a German national who was first elected mayor six years ago, was found to have been involved in an administrative conflict of interest in connection with an urban planning document he approved in 2020.
But the law’s retroactive application has sparked controversy at the European level.
On Wednesday, the leaders of the EPP and Renew Europe groups, Manfred Weber and Valérie Hayer, wrote a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calling on her to consider freezing funds earmarked for Romania to pressure Bucharest’s Parliament to remove the “Fritz amendment.”
The law’s implementation is not yet guaranteed: it will now be sent to President Nicușor Dan, who can either sign it into law or ask Parliament to reconsider it. Dan is the founder of the USR party, which Fritz currently leads.
The legislation could also be challenged again before the Constitutional Court, although a judicial rejection is unlikely.
The debate in the Senate saw sharp exchanges between lawmakers, according to the Romanian press, with a USR senator accusing Socialists of acting as "worthy successors to Stalinists who used legislation to eliminate political opponents".
An unusual alliance between the left-leaning PSD and far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians put the law forward, while the centre-right conservative National Liberal Party did not oppose it in the Senate – even in the face of criticism from their own European political family.
Beyond the “Fritz amendment”, the integrity law significantly changes Romania’s system for publicly disclosing officials’ assets and interests and must be formally enacted by the end of the month to prevent Romania from risking the loss of EU funds.
Every instance of non-compliance with the targets agreed with the European Commission after 31 August would lead to a proportionate cut of the funds.
Dominic Fritz has been contacted for this article.