SOFIA (Bulgaria), January 25 (SeeNews) – Bulgaria’s progress in the priorities, set out in the EU’s Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), including judicial reform and the fight against corruption, has been slower than expected over the past 10 years, the European Commission (EC) said in a report.
“More generally, over the past ten years, overall progress has not been as fast as hoped for and a number of significant challenges remain to be addressed,” the European Commission said in its 2017 annual report on Bulgaria's progress under the CVM. “The new government will need to drive reform forward to secure irreversible results,” the Commission added.
The CVM was established on January 1, 2007, when Bulgaria entered the EU. The mechanism sets out six benchmarks in relation to the areas of judicial reform and the fight against corruption and organised crime, with Bulgaria’s progress assessed annually by the European Commission.
In relation to progress in the judicial reform, the Commission noted the positive steps that Bulgaria has taken in reforming its constitution, but pointed to the need of a solid track record in terms of actual implementation.
The Criminal Procedure Code and the Criminal Code have been identified by the Commission as major obstacles in the prosecution of high-level corruption and serious organised crime, thus amending them is set out as a priority.
In addition, the Commission urges Bulgaria to establish a roadmap for the implementation of the recommendations of the recent Structural Reform Support Service report concerning the reform of the Prosecutor's Office and its interactions with other institutions.
In terms of fighting high-level corruption, the European Commission underlined the need for Bulgaria to adopt a new legal framework, in line with the government’s 2015 anti-corruption strategy, as well as the necessity of a mechanism for public reporting on progress in high-level cases, which are in the public domain.
Also, checks of public procurement procedures are advised to combat corruption at the local level.
The Commission noted the changing nature of organised crime in Bulgaria, pointing the need for the country to establish a track record showing that final court decisions in cases involving serious organised crime are reached and enforced.
Also, amendments to the law on confiscation of criminal assets are advised by the Commission.
When the objectives can be achieved depends solely on how quickly Bulgaria will be able to fulfil the outlined recommendations in an irreversible way, the Commission concluded.