Brussels, 08/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 8 February, the European Commission published a mixed assessment of the progress made by Bulgaria and Romania in the fight against corruption and judicial reforms. The European executive notes a range of progress made by both countries since the last report of July 2011 and considerable steps forward, but also expresses a number of concerns and considerable efforts still to be made. On Wednesday, the Commission declined to make any more political comment on these interim reports, which were published in the framework of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), not wishing to indicate whether they were “positive or negative”, according to Commission spokesperson Mark Gray. He also declined to confirm whether, as several countries have implied, Romania's situation is currently better than Bulgaria's.
In the view of a number of member states, such as the Netherlands and France, Romania is certainly getting on better than Bulgaria. Romania has set more things in place and has adopted the recommendations made in July more quickly, whereas Sofia is still struggling. The Commission notes, with regard to the fight against corruption, that no concrete progress has been registered since July for the system of checks on the asset declarations of senior civil servants, which aims to detect and investigate cases of inexplicable personal enrichment.
Nor has Bulgaria taken on board all of the advice of the Commission for its future law on confiscating the assets of criminal groups, particularly on the request to be able to “carry out a proactive verification of the assets of senior civil servants and political figures”, the report states. Doubts also exist as to the independence of the commission which will be tasked with identifying and confiscating assets of criminal origin.
A further criticism levelled at Sophia is the fact that “since last summer, the higher council of the magistracy and Parliament have made several appointments to high-level posts within the magistracy which have raised concerns regarding their objectivity, transparency and degree to which a serious assessment has been made of the candidates' merits and integrity.”
But Bulgaria has also made efforts in a whole range of areas, qualifies the Commission. The new “tribunal and prosecutors office specialising in organised crime cases has started work”, it writes; measures have been taken to improve legal practices. And the commission responsible for recovering assets of criminal origin has been able to return its first decisions.
As regards Romania, the Commission stresses several steps forward, such as the fact that trials on high-level corruption have been accelerated, and the legislation on the confiscation of assets has been extended (this legislation is not yet in place in Bulgaria). The national corruption authority has also won several points, such as the national agency for integrity. They have also taken more of an interest in cases of high-level civil servants and political figures. But the work must continue. Romania has still to reinforce the “integrity of its judicial system” and to accentuate the “deterrent effect of criminal procedures related to high-level corruption”.
According to a spokesperson representing a large country of the Schengen zone, it is precisely the aspect of the fight against corruption which today sets the two countries apart and is creating a problem for Bulgaria, particularly regarding corruption at senior civil servant level. The spokesperson added that Romania has also implemented more reforms, more effectively.
This was echoed by the Dutch minister for European affairs, Ben Knapen. Although he welcomed “visible progress for both countries” in a press release, he added that this was particularly the case with Romania.
The position of the Netherlands on these interim reports is obviously key, as this is the last country still blocking Bulgaria and Romania from joining the Schengen area until it has sight of two entirely satisfactory Commission reports. The Hague is therefore deferring its decision until the next report is issued in July and little is likely to change between now and then. However, the Netherlands' position will “not necessarily be tenable for very much longer”, one source warned. The European Council of December itself pledged to find a solution to the dossier by March 2012 and the subject is likely to be on the agenda of the next summit. At the end of February, the General Affairs Council may also adopt conclusions on both of these CVM reports, which may, amongst other things, state that things are finally moving “in the right direction”, the source continued. (SP/transl.fl)