site.btaEU Justice Commissioner Jourova: "Ending Cooperation and Verification Mechanism Depends on Bulgaria' Achievements"

EU Justice Commissioner Jourova:"Ending Cooperation and Verification Mechanism Depends on Bulgaria' Achievements"

Sofia, April 8 (BTA) - Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov  conferred here on Friday with visiting EU Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Commissioner Vera Jourova, the Government  Information Service said.

The Proposal for a Council Regulation on the establishment of  the European Public Prosecutor's Office topped the agenda. The  Prime Minister noted that right from the outset of the debate,  Bulgaria has been supporting the establishment of a strong and  independent European public prosecutor's office. "We agree that  institutional measures at the EU level are needed to enable the  effective criminal prosecution of fraud and other criminal  offences against EU financial interests," Borissov said. He and  the EU Commissioner discussed the progress of the judicial  reform in Bulgaria and the countercorruption measures which the  State is taking.
 
Jourova stressed the importance of building public trust in the  judiciary and the prosecuting magistracy, which would clearly  signal tangible results. She added that she can see that there  is a political will for the achievement of sustainable results  in Bulgaria.

Whether the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) will be  discontinued in respect of Bulgaria depends on developments in  the country and Bulgaria's achievements, Commissioner Jourova  told a news briefing at the Ministry  of Justice earlier in the day.

She conferred with Justice Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva after  holding talks with Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov and Deputy  Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination and  Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva.

The guest sees the CVM rather as a tool of cooperation and  believes that it is quite balanced. In her words, this year's  report makes several critical remarks on which results must be  achieved. Jourova noted that some topics are left over from  2015. The talks she had with Tsatsarov and Zaharieva left her  with the impression that Bulgaria is on the right track, and the  European Commission expects tangible results in order to  discontinue the mechanism, the Commissioner said.

According to Jourova, results do not consist in just making new  laws but also in their effective implementation. She drew  attention to the criminal cases against public figures charged  with corruption. The Commissioner takes a positive view of  ending the CVM in respect of Bulgaria. "What we need in Bulgaria  are sustainable results, and sustainable results require a  sustained political will, which I can see in your country," she  commented. Asked about the EU experts who will be checking the operation of the Bulgarian prosecution service, Jourova pointed out that they are being selected.

Zaharieva said, for her part, that Bulgaria is ready to welcome  the EU experts. She and the Commissioner considered the  establishment of a European Public Prosecutor's Office, online  trading contracts, the ratification of the Istanbul Convention  on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic  violence, and the judicial reform in Bulgaria.

Jourova and Tsatsarov discussed the establishment of a European public prosecutor's office, the Bulgarian prosecuting magistracy said in a press release.

The Commissioner said that she is seeing the competent authorities of all EU Member States about their readiness to support the establishment of a European public prosecutor's office. In Bulgaria, there has never been a difference between the professional and political position on the establishment of such office, the guest emphasized.

The refugee crisis, human trafficking and the prosecution of radical Islam also figured on the agenda. The Prosecutor General pointed out that the capacity of prosecution offices in the border areas has been strengthened in view of the refugee flow and the larger number of human trafficking cases. He said that Bulgaria is taking preventive action against the spread of radical Islam in this country and emphasized that counterterrorism legislation is being drafted by a working group of experts of the prosecution service, the Interior Ministry and the State Agency for National Security.

Regarding the judicial reform, Tsatsarov said that the division of the Supreme Judicial Council into a judges' college and a prosecutors' college and the amendments to the Judicial System Act provide the necessary guarantees that the independence of the judiciary will be enhanced with clearly formulated rules and magistrates' responsibilities.