Bulgaria Braces to See Brussels Extend Judicial Reform Monitoring

Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski (L) is welcomed by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso (R) prior to a meeting, at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 20 December. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Bulgaria's government will decide on whether to call for lifting the European Commission's monitoring after its next report on the country's progress with judicial reform, fight against corruption and organized crime.

This was announced by Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski at his meeting with Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commission President, in Brussels on Friday.

Oresharski expressed confidence that the report will be objective, but steered clear of predicting whether it will note enough progress to call off the monitoring, which has been going on for the past 7 years.

The European Commission is expected to announce plans to continue monitoring Bulgaria's progress in the areas of judicial reform, fighting organized crime and corruption.

A commission report on the country's progress since joining the EU in 2007, alongside Romania, is expected to conclude that, although progress has been made, there was still work to be done before Bulgarians could enjoy their full rights as EU citizens.

The European Commission's next report on Bulgaria and Romania's progress with judicial reform, fight against corruption and organized crime has been delayed for January 2014.

The Commission's reports under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) are published twice a year to monitor Bulgaria and Romania's post-EU accession progress in certain problem areas, namely as justice and home affairs.

The report was due to be published by the end of 2013 and its delay dealt a heavy blow to Bulgaria's Schengen aspirations.

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