EC Interim Report about Bulgaria, Romania Due in March

A Bulgarian boy sits between EU flag and Bulgarian flag in Altimir, some 150 km from Sofia, Bulgaria. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The European Commission's interim report in connection with mechanisms for collaboration and control of internal affairs and justice systems in Bulgaria and Romania will be issued after March 3, according to reports.

The exact date has not been penciled in yet but it will be after March 3 due to the preparations of the EU's new strategy for sustainable growth and jobs, called “Europe 2020”, which will be presented on that day, the Bulgarian News Agency announced, citing well informed sources from the European Commission.

The reports about Bulgaria and Romania will be published “shortly after March 3, but not later than the middle of the month,” the sources said.

They were initially expected to be released at the end of February.

This will be the first European Commission report to assess the measures undertaken by Bulgaria's new center-right government, which swept the elections in July and made an attempt to shake off the country's reputation for rampant graft and crime.

Bulgaria and Romania are still not doing enough to tackle corruption and organized crime, so they will have to accept European Union monitoring for at least another year, the EU's executive said in its latest annual report on the duo, released on July 22 last year.

Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union on January 1, 2007 but owing to shortcomings in justice reform and dealing with corruption the commission has kept an eye on developments through a special monitoring mechanism.

Any failure to redress the problems means that surveillance will continue, a process which resulted in Bulgaria being deprived of hundreds of millions of euros in potential funds.

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