Magistrates, most of whom are associated with the opposition Social Democratic Party that supported the motion. Macovei, herself, expressed the view that the Parliament could only be seeking to get rid of her because of her efforts against corruption, including investigations by her ministry against several members of the Senate. She stated that the investigations were carried out regardless of political party affiliation. International and domestic recognition Macovei received much praise internationally from politicians and the media for the reforms she implemented while Justice Minister. EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn stated that as a result of Macovei's efforts "For the first time in the history of the country, nobody is above the law." European Commissioner for Justice Frattini said that a "big part of the success of Romania's EU accession was achieved as a result of Macovei's work." The Economist described Macovei as: Macovei was nominated for the Campaigner of the Year 2006 award, as part of the European Voice Europeans of the Year Awards, for "driving through tough laws tackling corruption and reforming the judiciary, improving her country’s readiness to join the EU." Noted Romanian academic and former Foreign Minister Andrei Pleşu (who also briefly served as an advisor to President Băsescu) described Macovei, in her fight against corruption, as : Departure from Government Prime Minister Popescu-Tăriceanu dismissed Macovei on 2 April 2007, when he reshuffled his cabinet primarily to exclude the Democratic Party of President Traian Băsescu, with whom he remained engaged in a prolonged and heated public feud. Before and while she was Justice Minister, Macovei claimed to be politically independent. Nonetheless, President Băsescu's Democratic Party (PD) consistently backed her. The media reported that Popescu-Tăriceanu and his National Liberal Party (PNL) sought to expel her from the cabinet partially because she supported Băsescu and the PD in opposing Popescu-Tăriceanu's decision to postpone Romania's European Parliament elections that year due to what he characterized as ongoing domestic disputes. International media characterized Macovei's ouster as a departure from the aggressive reform efforts Romania had enacted in the previous two years to enter the EU. Following her departure from government, from July 2007 until April 2009, Macovei served as Anti-Corruption Advisor to the Prime Minister of Macedonia, with support from the British Foreign Office. Member of the European Parliament In 2009, Macovei joined the Democratic Liberal Party (successor of the PD), and won an MEP seat on the party's