On Friday 15 September, having consulting the Member States before the summer and receiving their green light, the Commission announced the official closure of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) for Bulgaria and Romania, which had applied to these two countries since 2007 and their accession to the EU. It has adopted two repeal decisions to this effect.
The aim was to check their progress in the areas of judicial reform and the fight against corruption, as well as organised crime in the case of Bulgaria. From now on, the two countries will only be covered by the annual reports on the rule of law, launched in 2020, covering all Member States and focussing on the independence of the judiciary, the fight against corruption, media pluralism and the balance of power.
“I would like to congratulate Bulgaria and Romania on the considerable progress they have made since joining the EU”, said the President, Ursula von der Leyen, in a press release.
At the end of 2019, the Commission published the latest report on Bulgaria. That on Romania followed in November 2022. The Commission concluded on Friday that both countries had satisfactorily fulfilled their obligations under the CVM. These two reports have long been used by Member States to delay the entry of these two countries into the Schengen area. This week, the Commission again called for the integration of the two countries into Schengen. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)