site.btaEuropean Commission to Present EU Rule of Law Reports Sept. 23

Brussels, September 10 (BTA) - European Commission Vice
President Vera Jourova Thursday said the Commission will present
 the first annual reports under the rule of law mechanism on
each EU Member State on September 23. She addressed the European
 Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home
Affairs (LIBE), which discussed the Cooperation and Verification
 Mechanism (CVM) applied to Bulgaria and Romania.

She noted that the rule of law has a major impact on investor
activity and the state of the economy, and is expected to be
tied to funding from the EU Recovery Fund.

Jourova said that the European Commission had been following
closely the political situation and the protests in Bulgaria and
 that it has always held that peaceful demonstrations are a
fundamental right in all democratic countries. She stressed that
 the reaction of law enforcement bodies to the protests should
be proportionate. "The peaceful protests show how much
importance citizens attach to an independent and efficient
judiciary and good governance," said Jourova.

The Commission recommends seeking the specific advice of
organizations like the Venice Commission with the Council of
Europe on legislative revisions regarding the accountability of
the prosecutor general, including safeguarding judicial
independence in line with Venice Commission's recommendations.

Constitutional reforms should be subject to a large and
inclusive debate and should take the time to be able to reflect
a large consensus, she said.

Regarding media freedom and the freedom of expression, Jourova
said that the report on Bulgaria is not positive, and the
negative trend is noticed in many other Member States.

Commenting on calls from MEPs that the European Commission take
a stance on the current situation in Bulgaria, Jourova said the
Commission is not the arbiter of the domestic political
situation and there is a fine line between the role of the State
 and the role of the Commission, which should be respected.

Bulgarian MEP Emil Radev (EPP) said that with or without a
mechanism, Bulgaria is pressing ahead with the reforms ."The
country's government and institutions remain committed to
strengthening the reform in the judiciary and fighting
corruption, ensuring the rule of law and upholding democratic
values and fundamental rights. A case in point is the proposal
to convene a Grand National Assembly to adopt a new
constitution," he said.

Talking about the situation in Bulgaria, Bulgarian MEP Elena
Yoncheva (Socialists & Democrats) mentioned scandalous levels of
 corruption, lack of media freedom, inefficient reforms,
systemic breaching of fundamental rights, violation of human
rights, propaganda of fake news disseminated by the authorities,
 journalists beaten, and threatened opposition leaders. She said
 the proposed changes in the Constitution were "conceived in the
 dark and in fear".

Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Renew Europe) spoke against adopting the new
constitution, one of the reasons being that it would not bring
improvements.

Roberta Metsola (EPP) recognized the hard work done by Bulgaria
since its EU accession in 2007, as well as the efforts made to
meet the recommendations of the Venice Commission and GRECO, the
 Council of Europe's anti-corruption body. She said the protests
 of the last two months had not been ignored by the EU
institutions, stressing that the EU needs a comprehensive rule
of law mechanism that looks at every single Member State so that
 issues can be identified and solved before they lead to
protests.

Sophie in 't Veld (Renew Europe) said the European Commission's
monitoring of Bulgaria showed there was still unfinished
business. The Venice Commission is not being consulted and
involved as much as the European Commission had expected, she
said, citing the accountability of the prosecutor general as an
example.

Tineke Strik (Greens) commented on what she called "the constant
 decline of the rule of law in Bulgaria", saying the country was
 "in a state of endemic corruption". She also said the position
of the prosecutor general was far from independent, it is really
 "under control of the government" and "any independent scrutiny
 is prevented by the system". She said the police used brutal
violence against protesters who want an independent judiciary
and an end to corruption. Strik also said that in view of the
numerous problems with corruption and the independent judiciary,
 the Greens are in favour of effectively using the CVM towards
Bulgaria before putting in place the new type of monitoring. She
 urged for freezing EU funding and for infringement procedures.

Jorge Buzade Villalba (European Conservatives and Reformists)
said that Bulgaria seems to have implemented the criteria put
forward by the European Commission.

Ramona Strugariu (Renew Europe) talked about the protests in
Bulgaria and compared it to Belarus, saying that children were
being beaten and arrested. She said this was "a profound
disgrace for a European country".

Clare Daly (European United Left) objected to the tone and
content of  Commissioner Jourova's contribution, saying it was
"completely at variance with the reality on the ground in
Bulgaria". "If the Commission thinks that progress in Bulgaria
has been good over the past 13 years, my conclusion can only be
that you are either grossly incompetent or else you are
completely subservient to the interests of [Prime Minister]
Borissov," she said.

Taking the floor for comments and answers, Jourova sharply
rejected Daly's allegation, saying that she was doing her job
with full objectivity. RY/DD