site.btaEC Releases Latest Report on Bulgaria's Progress in Combatting Organized Crime and Corruption, Reforming Judiciary

Strasbourg, November 13 (BTA Correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) - The European Commission Tuesday adopted its latest report on steps taken by Bulgaria to meet its commitments on judicial reform, the fight against corruption and organised crime under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM).

"This report acknowledges that Bulgaria has continued to make steady progress in implementing the final recommendations we set out in January 2017," European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said, quoted by the Commission in a press release. These reforms are necessary to effectively fight corruption and organised crime. If the current positive trend continues and progress is maintained sustainably and irreversibly, I am confident that the CVM process for Bulgaria can be concluded before the end of this Commission's mandate."

The Commission considers that several of the 17 recommendations have already been implemented, and a number of others are very close to implementation. On this basis, three benchmarks (judicial independence, legislative framework and organised crime) out of six can be considered provisionally closed. Given that in some cases developments are ongoing, continued monitoring by the Commission is required to confirm this assessment.

The report notes a significant deterioration in the Bulgarian media environment over recent years, which risks restricting the access of the public to information and can have a negative impact on judicial independence, with targeted attacks on judges in some media. More widely, the ability of the media, as well as of civil society, to hold those exercising power to account in a pluralistic environment free from pressure is an important foundation stone to pursue the reforms covered by the CVM, as well as for better governance more generally.

The Commission is confident that Bulgaria, if it pursues the current positive trend, will be able to fulfil all the remaining recommendations and thereby the outstanding benchmarks. This will enable the CVM process for Bulgaria to then be concluded before the end of this Commission's term in October 2019, as Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker pledged when he took office.

Transparent reporting by the Bulgarian authorities and public and civic scrutiny will play an important role in internalising monitoring at national level and providing the necessary safeguards to maintain the path of progress and reform.

Since January 1, 2008, when it established the CVM, the Commission has reported on progress in these areas on a regular basis in written reports to the European Parliament and Council. The six benchmarks under which progress is assessed are Judicial Independence, Legal Framework, Continued Judicial Reform, High-level Corruption, Corruption in General including Local Level and Borders, and Organised Crime. NJ/LN, LG