Brussels, 20/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 20 July, the European Commission pointed out that Bulgaria, and especially Romania, had still a long way to go towards combating corruption and making progress on judicial reform, although for now these two countries are not subject to penalties. The Commission notes the political will and determination of the new Bulgarian government under Boïko Borissov to achieve a recasting of the judicial system. Bulgaria has improved its penal procedures and can demonstrate a higher number of indictments for cases involving high-level corruption and organised crime, the Commission notes, although it adds that there are still too few cases concluded in court. The judiciary must take the initiative more often and show a stronger sense of responsibility, it says. Finally, public funds must be better protected against fraud and conflict of interest. The report on Romania notes “important shortcomings” in the country's efforts to achieve progress, the Commission states. Despite adoption of civil and criminal procedure codes, Bucharest has showed “overall insufficient political commitment” in support of the reform process, and the leadership has appeared unwilling to cooperate and take responsibility for the benefit of reform, the Commission regrets. “The lack of efficiency of the judicial process and the lack of consistency of jurisprudence remain fundamental weaknesses in Romania”, it stresses, saying, moreover, that accountability of the judiciary and disciplinary procedures require improvements. The Commission therefore calls on Romania to correct these weaknesses as a matter of urgency and to reactivate the reform process. The European executive body above all notes that the amendment to the law on the National Integrity Agency represents a “serious step back” as it puts at risk the positive track record which that agency had achieved, and puts Romania in clear breach of its accession commitments. Although this amendment was invalidated by the constitutional court on Monday, the Commission invites Romania to find a solution to give the agency the power to propose effective forfeiture of unjustified wealth. The Commission will publish its next assessments on these two countries in summer 2011. (B.C./transl.jl)