EC report: Bulgaria makes progress, more changes needed

published on 2/9/12 1:19 PM

Photo: Vergil Mitev

In its interim report on the progress of Bulgaria under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism the European Commission recommends that Bulgaria put further effort into its judicial reform and the combat against corruption and organized crime. The report offers a technical update on the more significant changes in the country over the last 6 months. In the summer, the EC is expected to make an overall assessment of Bulgaria’s progress since the country joined the Community back in 2007. The coming assessment will in a way predetermine whether the Mechanism will be lifted and if Bulgaria will enter the Schengen Space. The Netherlands has made it clear that Bulgaria will join the borderless zone on condition that the EC issue two consecutive positive reports.

According to the EC, Bulgaria has made progress by following the July 2011 recommendations, but needs to work harder in some areas. The report assesses positively the newly launched specialized court for organized crime and notes that the commission for establishing property acquired through criminal activity has done significant amount of work. The EC also recommends more transparent procedures when it comes to hiring people in the judicial system, a better law for confiscating property and further steps under the reform of the Supreme Judicial Council, the Prosecution Office and the Police. The country needs to achieve better results in the cases against organized crime and high-level corruption, as well as better control of the incomes and properties of politicians and senior officials. Bulgaria should also hear more cases on EU funds embezzlement and carry out an in-depth analysis on the weaknesses of its case law and investigation of important cases against organized crime and corruption. The donations to the Ministry of Interior have been considered risky for the country’s financial stability, circumventing public procurement rules.

According to leaders from the right-centrist party GERB and PM Boyko Borissov, the EC report is objective and balanced, but part of the criticism can be attributed to some people in the opposition adding fuel to the fire in and outside Bulgaria, to the judicial system being independent and also to the government’s own mistakes. The opposition, including leftists, rightists and liberals, has declared the report very negative, claiming that the presence of political will is not mentioned anywhere. The Movement for Rights and Freedoms demanded the resignation of Bulgaria’s Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, and Democrats For Strong Bulgaria called for constitutional changes.

According to co-chair of GERB’s parliamentary group Iskra Fidosova, the EC report is satisfying.
“The report assesses highly the specialized prosecution and the court. The opposition reprimanded us for a year for setting up the new body for combating organized crime. In my view, Brussels has assessed Bulgaria’s progress highly. We’re expecting positive results in the coming July report. Which will analyse the work of the specialised court. The EC has also assessed positively the work of the new independent commission for establishing and disclosing conflict of interests. For less than 4 months, the commission has received 140 alarms and has pronounced on 25 of them.“

With regard to the EC recommendation on a judicial system hiring reform, the authorities changed the justice law with heated debate.

“What we’ve adopted in the law is not sufficient. Our will and ambition is to adopt changes in the next 3 months for clear, concrete and transparent rules for hiring members at the Judicial Supreme Council”, Ms. Fidosova says further and adds that this and the change in the Criminal Procedure Code have stopped the practice of Bulgaria’s Court of Cassation returning cases to lower instance courts.
According to her, the Ministry of Interior has been assessed positively for establishing the crime-combating bodies. Yet, Bulgaria needs to carry out further changes.

Ms. Fidosova also comments on the chances for the EC to lift the Mechanism:

“If we really manage to follow the EC’s current recommendations in the coming months, prior to the July report, we’ll have all reasons to demand the lifting of the monitoring. This would be also a step to the Schengen Area. I hope that the Dutch government will look at Bulgaria in a new way”.

English version: Vyara Popova

По публикацията работи: Tatiana Obretenova

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EC report: Bulgaria makes progress, more changes needed

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