Brussels, 27/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - The next interim report by the European Commission on judiciary reform and the state of corruption in Bulgaria and Romania, due in early February, is said to be critical of Bulgaria, AFP reports. This thus compromises Bulgaria's chances of entering the Schengen area in March 2012. The Danish Presidency hopes to include this issue on the agenda of the formal meeting of ministers on 8-9 March. The Netherlands remains the only country opposed to an agreement relating to accession by Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen in two phases, in March and then in July, with a decision (according to the requirement of unanimity) conditional on a further report by the Commission in July 2012. This link is, moreover, deplored by the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, who was speaking on Thursday 26 January during his meeting with Bulgaria's President Rosen Plevneliev. The Commission, he said, has always wanted to keep the two aspects separate so that there is no link between the verification report and accession to Schengen. He also said that the Commission reserves the right, in July 2012, to study whether both countries are to continue being subject to CVM monitoring. (SP/transl.jl)