Romania’s senate has voted for the first time to investigate politicians after a sharp rebuke from the European Union on its failure to tackle corruption since joining the bloc last year.

The country’s upper house has requested an investigation into the Conservative senator and former energy minister Codrut Seres over alleged links to organised crime, while Paul Pacuraru, the labour minister and a senator for the governing Liberal party, is to be investigated by the country’s anti-corruption directorate (DNA) over allegations of bribe-taking.