site.btaProsecutor General Meets with EU Commissioners for Justice, Digital Economy

Sofia/Brussels, September 29 (BTA) - Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov Thursday met with Vera Jourova, European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, and with Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society.

Tsatsarov's meetings in Brussels focused on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) and Bulgaria's progress under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), Tsatsarov's press office said.

Jourova said that a draft regulation on the European prosecution service would be put to the vote in the European Parliament in early October and that the stage of establishing the office would coincide with Bulgaria's EU Council Presidency.

The new service will investigate and prosecute EU-fraud and other crimes affecting the Union's financial interests. Tsatsarov stressed there were no differences between politicians and professionals in Bulgaria as both groups fully support EPPO's establishment and proper functioning.

The two discussed key points of the draft regulation approved by the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on Thursday. Commissioner Jourova stressed that by adopting the regulation, European politicians had done their job and now the professionals (the EU Member States' prosecutors and police) must do their bit.

Tsatsarov also briefed Jourova on the way Bulgaria's prosecution service had been implementing the recommendations of the latest CVM report, with an emphasis on investigations of high-level public officials: MPs, ministers and magistrates.

It was reaffirmed that if Bulgaria keeps up the pace of reform, it is possible to discontinue the CVM by the end of the term of this European Commission.

Talking with Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, Tsatsarov praised highly her initiative for a discussion on the obligation of web platforms to remove illegal content, especially when it has to do with terrorism and sexual abuse.