The Ethics Committee of the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iaşi, Romania, has forwarded the plagiarism case of Socialist Chief Whip Taulant Balla to the National Council for Attestation of University Titles, Diplomas and Certificates (CNATDCU) of the Ministry of Education.
For his PhD Thesis, written under Professor George Poede, Balla had copied extensive sections of the study Policy-Making in the EU: Achievements, Challenges, and Proposals for Reform by Andrea Renda for the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels into his own 2015 dissertation The Reform of Decision-Making System in the European Union. Balla received a summa cum laude grade for his PhD.
Exit filed a complaint against Balla’s plagiarism at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, which was evaluated by the Ethics Committee. In its decision, the Ethics Committee notes:
“The Ethics Committee establishes that the written complaint contains both the identification data of the person filing the complaint and the identification data of the persons against whom the complaint had been filed, and it describes the conduct as considered by the plaintiff to violate the norms of academic ethics or good conduct in the area of scientific research. Therefore, it is formally noted that the complaint contains all necessary elements to call upon the Ethics Committee.”
The complaint has been forwarded to the CNATDCU, which, according to regulations issued by the Romanian Ministry of Education, is in charge of handling “violations of professional ethical standards, including plagiarism within the PhD thesis.”
According to Romanian law, the CNATDCU has 45 days to decide on the case. If it concludes committed plagiarism, his PhD title will be revoked.
