Brussels, 28/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - During a campaign speech in Sofia (Bulgaria) on Sunday 27 April, Jean-Claude Juncker, the EPP Party's candidate for the post of president of the European Commission, spoke of the possibility of gradually ending to the cooperation and verification mechanism (CVM), which is applied to Bulgaria and Romania (see EUROPE 11002).
On 22 January, the European Commission presented a fairly positive report on the efforts undertaken by Romania to improve the independence of its judicial system and the integrity of its institutions. By contrast, the Commission proved a little less convinced by Bulgaria - the efforts of which the Commission described as still “insufficient”. Bulgaria had not been the subject of a Commission report on the CVM for 18 months.
Over the next five years (the next Commission's mandate), the EU will decide on the future of the CVM, said Juncker in a speech given to party supporters in Sofia. “I know well how important the cooperation and verification mechanism has been for Bulgaria. I know that it has often been a helpful tool in supporting reforms and an independent judiciary in Bulgaria”, the EPP candidate stated. As president of the European Commission, “I will work for strong respect of the rule of law and a determined fight against corruption in all 28 EU member states”, Juncker said. He believes in the rule of law and also in the equal treatment of all member states. This is why he hailed the initiative of European Commission President José Manuel Barroso to introduce a rule of law mechanism progressively for all the countries of the EU. Juncker will continue this work and hopes that this will allow for “the phasing out of the cooperation and verification mechanism under my presidency”.
Juncker favours Bulgaria's accession to Schengen area. The former prime minister of Luxembourg reiterated that, over the next five years, the European Union will also have to decide whether Bulgaria becomes a full member of the Schengen area. Juncker supports this because he believes that Bulgaria “fulfils the conditions for full Schengen membership”. It is therefore “high time” for Bulgarian citizens to be able to make use of their right to free movement, which is one of the biggest achievements of the European project, he stated. In his view, this is something that is “non-negotiable”.
Juncker also argued for a real common energy policy. “I will never accept that millions of citizens here in Bulgaria will have their gas cut off for weeks on end, in the middle of winter”, he said. “If we cannot get sufficient gas from the East, we should be able to compensate this with gas supplies from the West”, he concluded. (LC)