Romania's new centrist government will hand the European Union an anti-corruption battle plan which includes "honesty lessons" in schools to prove its determination to fight graft.

In what is seen as its first major test since closing accession talks last year, Romania was given until March 31 to come up with a plan to reform its lumbering judiciary and fight graft, which threatens the country's 2007 EU entry goal.

The two-year action plan, discussed by the government over the weekend and due to be finalised this week, contains strict deadlines to adopt laws fighting corruption and aims to boost the efficiency of the judiciary.

"We want to ensure the independence of prosecutors and their autonomy in order to boost the efficiency of our anti-corruption fight and to eliminate political interference," Justice Minister Monica Macovei said.

Apart from laws, the public will be involved. A nationwide anti-corruption awareness campaign will be launched on radio and television, while civic education classes on corruption will be introduced in high schools, she said.

Mr Macovei said the government would introduce performance criteria for the prosecutors dealing with corruption and leave the national anti-graft prosecuting office (PNA) free to concentrate on tackling large-scale graft.

EU officials had criticised the ex-Communist PSD government, which lost November 28 elections to the centrists, for failing to seriously tackle graft and catching none of the "big fish".

The global graft watchdog Transparency International ranks Romania as one of the most corrupt in the region, the result of successive post-communist governments making little progress in fighting a scourge that has hampered economic development and undermined democracy.

But the reformist government of Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu, which won elections on a tough anti-graft campaign, has vowed to make a difference.

"I'm concerned that anti-corruption fight seems to be marked by chronic inefficiency. Our fight must produce results," Mr Tariceanu said.

The new government has vowed to begin the clean-up from the top. Its measures include the creation by May of an independent watchdog to verify the accuracy of wealth statements made by government members, MPs, civil servants and magistrates.

By June, the government will also draft new legislation on granting state contracts and regulate the allocation of state advertising. It will also review by December the existing legislation on funding political parties.

Factbox - Romania unveils anti-corruption measures

European Union candidate Romania has unveiled a package of measures to fight corruption, the main obstacle to its EU membership expected in 2007.

Here are the key actions and deadlines set by the new centrist government, which came to power last December on a tough anti-graft ticket:

¤ Increase transparency in public administration by reforming laws on:

- Granting state contracts (by June 2005)

- State financing of political parties (by December 2005)

- On civil servants, including rotating vulnerable personnel (December 2007)

¤ Judiciary reforms to fight corruption:

- Amend laws to ensure the independence of prosecutors, assign cases with objective criteria (September 2005)

- Amend law to hand control of crime investigation to prosecutors instead of police (September 2005)

- Give prosecutors dealing with organised crime and corruption access to all databases, including intelligence (March 2006)

- Reduce number of graft-fighting bodies (March 2006)

- Reorganise anti-corruption prosecutor's office (PNA) with a view to expand its authority to organised crime, keep its focus on large-scale corruption cases (June 2005)

- PNA to report results of its action annually (November 2005)

- Amend laws to speed up prosecution and trial (December 2005)

¤ Preventing corruption in business by reforming laws on:

- Bankruptcy (July 2005)

- Rescheduling and exemption of taxes (May 2005)

- Tax evasion (May 2005).

¤ Information and education:

- Media campaign to raise citizens' awareness on how to prevent corruption (December 2006)

- Pilot programme of high school lessons on anti-corruption (starting September 2005)

- Educating justice, police and civil servants on anti-corruption issues (September 2006).