The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs at the European Parliament approved the abolition of the monitoring mechanism on Bulgaria and Romania and called for their accession to the Schengen Area. The MEPs supported the report of the European Commission according to which, Bulgaria has fulfilled its commitments. The media environment in Bulgaria has deteriorated and corruption remains a problem, Elena Yoncheva from the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats said. Emil Radev from the European People’s Party said that problems with corruption and rule of law exist in the whole EU and the fight against the vicious practices is not more effective in other EU member states. The European Parliament and the European Council will take the final decision whether to lift the twelve year monitoring on Bulgaria.