A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce, or a tragedy, or perhaps both Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.
James Madison

PRESS RELEASE
 

Concerning the proposals for legislative provisions drafted by Transparency International Romania in order to increase transparency and reduce corruption in the extractive industry, we make the following specifications, as to remove any interpretation which is not accurate to reality.

1. The legislative proposals exclusively target norms that legally guarantee, by means of procedures and precise obligations, transparency in the extractive industry, with direct effects in reducing corruption and using the natural resources in the benefit of society.
2. Transparency International Romania has been and will be opposed to any regulations which are destined for the private interests of one company or another, and promotes standards applicable to the entire extractive industry in Romania, regardless of the nature of the deposits or the property of the projects, aligned to international standards and good practices. To this end, we completely disavow any associations with the Roşia Montană mining project, which in its current form we cannot sustain, given the environmental risks and the aspects regarding the protection of the cultural patrimony and last but not least, the efficiency for the national economy we feel that it has.
3. Transparency International Romania appeals to the regulation of the highest standards of transparency concerning the granting and managing of concession contracts for the prospecting, exploration and exploitation of Romania’s natural resources and requests that the Bucharest authorities expedite the procedures of adhesion to EITI, (Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative), as a step towards assuming the principles of sustainable exploitation principles in the interest of society, as well as the expansion of the provisions for the entire extractive industry, respectively, from mining and mineral waters, to oil and natural gas.

We publish the attached: 

• The propositions made by Transparency International Romania
• The list of international standards and framework documents consulted
• The list of countries that are EITI members

Contact us at: Victor Alistar
office@transparency.org.ro, 
Tel. (Office): + 031 660 6001, Fax: + 031 660 6006