BUCHAREST, Romania — The government of Romania is on a collision course with the European Union at the very moment it is scheduled to take a leadership role in the organization.

The presidency of the Council of the European Union — the body through which the bloc’s 28 member states help guide legislation and coordinate policy — moves from one country to another every six months. On Tuesday, it will be Romania’s turn for the first time since it joined the union 12 years ago.

At the same time, however, the government in Bucharest is pressing ahead with changes to its justice system that have been strongly criticized in Brussels, and top officials in the country are defending the government’s position with increasingly Euroskeptic language.

The left-wing government has moved assertively to rein in the independence of the judiciary — setting off street protests and political upheaval — and is now considering a decree granting amnesty to people convicted of corruption. Last week, Romania’s justice minister officially requested the dismissal of the country’s top prosecutor, an outspoken critic of the government’s moves.