Integrity, justice and rule of law

About the project   The project seeks to enhance and develop the community of investigators in Romania to decrease the expansion of organized crime, corruption and financial crime groups and has the following objectives: to provide support to …

EFOR monitors China’s influence in the Black Sea Countries, with a focus on Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia. While less conspicuous than Russia, China is increasingly present in our region through various channels and …

In recent years, Central and Eastern Europe has seen various initiatives  aimed at shrinking the space for NGOs and civic action in general. What is concerning is that some of these governments have sometimes claimed …

Did you ever think how political parties attract voters? - In Romania, election manipulation through flour and oil packages is illegal and giving party jackets is inefficient. One answer: expanding their cash box through subsidies …

EFOR hosted for one week a mixt delegation from Armenia, including public officials, academics, journalists and civil society, in a joint project Caucasus Institute-ExpertForum. We organized meetings with relevant public figures, in Bucharest and Cluj, …

While the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and a myriad of regional treaties and review bodies have set out important anti-corruption commitments for their state parties, they are not always implemented effectively in practice. …

CC-LIFT contributes to the development of watchdog mechanisms in Romania, Moldova and Georgia regarding the clientelistic allocation of funds towards the local communities. The project aims to improve the effectiveness, transparency and accountability of governance …

The democratic transitions in Central and Eastern Europe are facing significant challenges. Across the region, Russia is expanding its economic and political influence and using it to undermine democratic standards and values. Using its strong …

The procurement market can go up to a quarter of the GDP in some European countries. With these high figures, the procurement processes become a target for political parties and affiliated companies that are interested …

In a consortium of 6 NGOs, the project provides a detailed analysis and strategic on the phenomenon of clientelism in state-owned companies (SOEs) in four EU Member States (3 new Member States, Romania, Bulgaria and …

Although the accession to the European Union has been a powerful ally for the internal fight against corruption and weak rule of law, it is now clear that the external pressure for change is not …

The project Civil Response to Clientelism in Media – MEDIA CIRCLE is built on more than a decade of strategic engagement of Partnership for Social Development (Croatia) and its partners in fighting against corruption, increasing transparency …

The project Cross-Country Legal and Institutional Framework for Suppression of Fraud in Public Procurement is a joint endeavour of the experts from Partnership for Social Development (Croatia) and EFOR. These two organizations and their experts are …

In the context of assessed deficiencies regarding the procedures and mechanisms for the implementation of extended confiscations at a national level, due to a delayed Romanian legislative alignment (i.e. Law 63 2012) to EU directive …

Many myths and scandals have been produced during the past years around the discretionary allocation of funds from the government to the local administrations. It has been said that some have been favoured, that the …

UPDATE: EFOR organized a debate about conflicts of interests and incompatibilities, legal issues and practical difficulties and instruments for increasing the degree of public integrity in together with Horia Georgescu, President, National Integrity Agency, Andrei …

The scope of the project is to enhance efficiency of the cooperation between civil society and anticorruption agencies and is based on a partnership between six civil society organizations in Romania, one Bulgaria think tank …

We organized a debate on a list of sensitive topics related to the quality of governance in nowadays Europe: current trends in strengthening rules of ethics in the administration; and how to assess political corruption with objective …

The Initiative for a Clean Justice (ICJ), a coalition of seven NGOs, lead by Expert Forum and Freedom House Romania. ICJ  has set up a working group to monitor and inform the public regularly, accurately …

The project aims to tackle with the need of capacity building for magistrates and operative officers in the public procurement field, one of the priorities mentioned in the National Anti-corruption Strategy, but also in the …

Citizens for Energy Watchdog on the energy regulator (ANRE), which we monitored independently in terms of both governance and regulatory substance, together with a panel of experts. The project concept was one of the winners in …

In 2019, the European Union implemented protections for those who speak up about wrongdoing, through the adoption of a landmark whistleblower protections directive: Directive 2019/1937. The EU Directive was hailed as a globally significant development …

Expert Forum and the National Agency for the Management of Seized Assets (ANABI) organised a public debate in Bucharest on 23 November 2022 on the social re-use of assets recovered from crime and mechanisms to …

In September 2022, EFOR analysed the draft justice laws as adopted by the Romanian Government at the end of August and identified the most problematic provisions. EFOR concluded then that aside from not solving the …

The Romanian government adopted the draft justice laws on the 24th of August 2022 and is in a hurry to adopt them in Parliament in less than a month, in a joint committee and possibly …

In 2020, the media market was fed with funds from the Government, to promote the anti-Covid campaign. The period in which almost 200 million lei (40 mil EUR) were promised overlaps over the electoral period, …

SceMaps has implemented the MACPI (Monitoring Anti-Corruption Policy Implementation) tool in nine institutions in Bulgaria, Spain, Italy and Romania, which allows institutions to assess the functioning and effectiveness of the anti-corruption measures in place and …

The National Program for Local Development (PNDL) has been a constant topic of public discussion in recent years. Most of the time the emphasis was put on politicization and inefficiency of the program. It is …

The Ministry of Justice sending the three draft bills to Parliament in their current form risks opening a Pandora’s box, since the end result and duration of the legislative process is difficult to anticipate. EFOR …

In March 2021, the Ministry of Justice launched for public debate the draft Law on the protection of whistleblowers, transposing Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law. The …

  37 companies in Bulgaria and 10 in Romania (compared to 3 in Spain and 0 in Italy) stand out in the procurement exposure per employee ratio, a red flag raised when companies with an …

Benchmarking Reports of Nine Public Organisations in Bulgaria, Italy, Romania and Spain The report summarises the results from the assessment of the anti-corruption policy implementation in nine public organisations, that exert governance, regulatory or control functions …

SceMaps makes its assessments by combining ‘red flags’, each of which indicates a risk situation which might be the result of possible corruption or conflict of interests. SceMaps' big-data analyses were designed to demonstrate …

The National Agency for the Management of Seized Assets (ANABI) in partnership with Expert Forum in Romania hosted an online public discussion on the topic of “Effective asset recovery of the proceeds of crime through …

EFOR contributed to the special edition of the Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences dedicated to the COVID-19 pandemic, with an article on the Romanian sanctioning policy during the two months of state of emergency. EFOR also …

See full documentary here. Amid allegations of corruption and violence, Romania’s ancient forests are being devastated by illegal logging. It is getting dangerous in Romania’s vast ancient forests. The figures are stark: Six rangers killed (two in …

How will the Rule of Law report influence adherence to the rule of law standards across the EU? In October 2020, Expert Forum, together with APADOR-CH hosted a round table debate on the European Commission’s …

The decision of the United States and the European Union to impose sanctions on Russia in 2014, and the consequent renewal of sanctions, have had significant implications for the international economy and Eastern Europe, given …

Expert Forum is pleased to invite you to a debate on political clientelism and its effects on elections and good governance. Together with partners from the Republic of Moldova (Expert Grup) and Georgia (Institute for …

Expert Forum and the Rule of Law Programme South East Europe of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation are pleased to invite you to a debate taking place on November 16, starting at 10 AM, focused on …

The local elections in Chisinau, held in two rounds on 20 May and 3 June 2018, resulted in the victory of the representative of the extra-parliamentary opposition, the leader of Political Party “Platform Dignity and …

The 2018 report on Romania was written by Laura Ștefan, anticorruption expert, former director in the Romanian Ministry of Justice, and international expert on rule of law; and Sorin Ioniță, expert in public administration reform and …

The map and the attached reports show which governments, at what time and with what financial instrument have been more clientelistic: we built an index of political clientelism that correlates the amounts allocated to the …

Expert Forum released today, 14th of February the Annual policy  report - Populism 2.0 and the rebirth of the alternatives to the liberal democracy The main conclusions of the report are: - Despite the populist rhetoric we …

On the 6th on March, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs in cooperation with Partnership for Social Development held a public hearing in the European Parliament on Media Clientelism Index: Measuring Media …

Bucharest, Jan 20th 2017   The signatory organizations consider unacceptable that normative acts of such importance as those regarding collective pardons for criminal sentences or amending the Criminal Codes are secretly drafted and included on the Government’s …

EFOR continues the research concerning the way in which procurement was made from the National Local Development Programme (PNDL). The funds allocated through PNDL are meant for the development of local infrastructure, such as roads, …

Mass media represent one of the most effective weapons through which local politicians can manipulate and win votes. So the clientelization and control of the press becomes a priority for them. In PB # 54 …

EFOR has launched the report ‘Money and procurement: where did the contracts for local investments end up?’ which analyses how the national funds are distributed from the National Local Development Programme (PNDL) and how public …

Fairpress.eu is celebrating its 2nd Birthday. Portal went live on the 8th July 2014 with initial traffic expectations being far exceed. Over the first 2 years, we received a total number of 320.324 sessions and …

Four Romanian civil society organizations have sent today a letter to the Presidents of the European Council, European Commission and the European Parliament. They demand from all sides maturity and responsibility in dealing with the …

Around the world, the need to protect and support whistleblowers has never been greater. Even as their disclosures are leading to more corrective actions within governments and corporations, whistleblowers continue to suffer from retaliation, threats, …

Fairpress.eu portal went live on the 8th July 2014 with initial traffic expectations being far exceed. Over the first 12 month period, we received a total number of 64.617 Sessions and 105.327 Pageviews. 47.542 Users …

The signatory organizations, members of  the Initiative for a Clean Justice, greet the Romanian Government’s decision of making public the drafts of the first two laws on public procurement. At the same time, the signatory organizations …

There is a public skepticism regarding the efficiency of the conviction, as long as the great fortunes built on malfeasances seemed untouchable. But the situation started to change and the confiscation became more efficiently, even …

The Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD), a think tank based in Sofia, Bulgaria has a full-time opening for a Romanian speaking Research Fellow or Senior Analyst to be based in Sofia. The position …

Partnership for Social Development and Expert Forum will organize the conference FIGHT AGAINST FRAUD AND EU COMMON MARKET. JOINT PUBLIC PROCUREMENT MONITORING - CROATIA AND ROMANIA,  on Wednesday, 28th May 2014, at PRESS CLUB BRUSSELS …

This report has been published within the project Cross-Country Legal and Institutional Framework for Suppression of Fraud in Public Procurement, implemented by Partnership for Social Development (Croația), in partnership with Expert Forum (Romania).   This report reflects …

EFOR and Partnership for Social Development will organize the conference Anti-fraud Measures in Public Procurement in the EU Single Market - Legal, Institutional and Technical Solutions, on Friday, 28th March 2014, at Minerva Hotel, 2-4 …