EU criticises Bulgaria and Romania over slow reform progress

Two interim reports by the EU on the progress made in Bulgaria and Romania to tackle judicial reform and corruption have criticised the pace of progress.

A commission spokesperson said Monday that while the cooperation and verification mechanism set up to assist ongoing shortcomings in both countries was working, “further efforts are required to fight corruption”.

When asked about the possibility of sanctions, he said that despite a “poor first half”, the commission expected “a better second half "and wanted "to avoid penalties".

The cooperation and verification mechanism was established to smooth Bulgarian and Romanian entry to the EU, and to help remedy shortcomings against benchmarks set for judicial reform, corruption, and in Bulgaria’s case, organised crime.

But it is evident that the commission remains frustrated at the level of progress made. 

The commission concluded that while efforts in Bulgaria to tackle judicial reform and fight corruption at its borders have been successful, efforts to fight corruption within local government need be strengthened.

The commission also expressed particular concern over the failure to tackle high-level corruption and organised crime.

Bulgaria "must step up its efforts in these areas to register progress ahead of the commission's next detailed evaluation mid 2008", said the report.

While the commission recognised the production of a detailed Bulgarian action plan, it criticised it for a lack of coherence.

“The measures proposed do not reflect the level of commitment necessary to tackle the issues concerned,” said the report.

“They also fail to set out the necessary underlying operational framework.”

The commission also chastised Romania for delaying the implementation of a coherent recruitment strategy for the judiciary, the establishment of a national integrity agency and the implementation of projects to fight local corruption.

And as with the Bulgarian report, the commission expressed special concern over high-level corruption.

However, the report did conclude that cooperation projects such as judicial reform and the national anti-corruption department (DNA) have shown relatively stable progress.

The reports' implications for future members of the EU were also addressed by the commission, after fears that they might make accession negotiations tougher.

Enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn has already told Croatia, the next country scheduled to join the EU, that it must speed up the process of refugee returns and improve the rights of minorities.

Although good progress has been made, accession talks could be suspended if Croatia falters in its reforms.

The commission will soon issue comprehensive reports on Bulgaria and Romania under the cooperation and verification mechanism, with a progress assessment released in July 2008.

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