Romania Adopts Disputed Money-Laundering Law

Romania's parliament on Wednesday voted to adopt a disputed law on money-laundering meant to implement a European Union directive in the field, a year and a half after the deadline had passed and months after Brussels referred the country to the European court for failing to comply.

The initial vote in the Romanian Parliament sparked tensions among MPs, after Social Democrat party leader Liviu Dragnea, also the speaker of the lower chamber, demanded a second round of voting after the bill had been rejected by deputies.

Dragnea said that the electronic voting system had reported an error and some of the votes cast were not counted.

The bill, drafted by the National Office for Prevention and Control of Money Laundering but heavily amended by the ruling Social Democrats, came under heavy criticism by the opposition as well as numerous NGOs, in particular because it obliges organisations to declare the beneficiaries of all their projects and activities, including those that could be exposed to risks if their identity is revealed.

"This law is clearly unconstitutional and we will attack it at the Constitutional Court," the leader of the Save Romania Union, Dan Barna, told journalists after the vote.

Some 40 non-governmental organisations sent a letter on Tuesday to all political parties asking them to reject the bill which they said would block the activities of some NGOs and reduce the number of people asking the NGOs for help.

Three European large civil society platforms, Civil Society Europe, European Foundation Centre si DAFNE - Donors and Foundations Networks in Europe, also sent an open letter on October 1 to European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans and Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova, arguing that the bill...