site.btaBrussels May Split up Bulgaria and Romania in Justice, Home Affairs Monitoring - Minister

ESD 10:47:00 26-09-2014
LN1046ES.106
106 - POLITICS - JUSTICE - EC - MONITORING amplified

Brussels May Split up Bulgaria
and Romania in Justice,
Home Affairs Monitoring - Minister

Sofia, September 26 (BTA) - Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov
warned Friday that Bulgaria may be separated from Romania in the
European Commission monitoring of reforms in justice and the
fiht against organized crime and corruption. The Minister was
speaking on Nova TV - with the full interview due on September
28 - and quoted by dnevnik.bg which had its own sources to
confirm that.

Ever since their 2007 accession to the European Union, Bulgaria
and Romania have been paired up in monitoring by Brussels of how
they reform their judicial systems and fight graft and
corruption. Several reports have observed that Romania is making
faster progress than Bulgaria.

European Commission experts recently visited Bulgaria and met
with representatives of the Justice Ministry, the Supreme
Judicial Council, the Interior Ministry and the State Agency for
National Security, to prepare a report that is due in January
2015.

"There is a real prospect to see Bulgaria seperated from Romania
in the Schengen Area matters as well, and the problems in the
monitoring are very much tangible. If we fail to make clear
reform steps, this [splitting up Romania and Bulgaria] is going
to happen and will be a severe blow for our country," Ivanov
said.

Bulgaria and Romania had hoped to be allowed into the Schengen
border-free zone back in 2011 but due to negative reports under
the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism - the official name
of the monitoring in the areas of justice and home affairs -
they remain outside the coveted space.

The issue is also picked up by the Bulgarian National Radio
which approached for comment Dimiter Markov of the Centre for
the Study of Democracy. Markov described this scenario as "very
much likely" and says that the European Commission has been
sending such signals at least for a year. In his words, "almost
nothing has been done in the area of the judicial reform in the
pasta year and none of the European Commission recommendations
has been followed". The very few positive things, such as the
preparation of a new Penal Code, were never carried through, he
added. PK/LN