Brussels, 11/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - Commissioner Franco Frattini has expressed his regret at recent declarations in the press made by experts on the insufficient efforts made by Bulgaria to fight against organised crime and corruption. In a press release on Thursday Frattini declared, “I therefore regret in principle the fact that experts working for the Commission express publicly to the media their opinions and assessments which will constitute an element of a report not yet published”. Two senior German civil servants acting as independent experts for the Commission with the goal of providing the latter with a report on respect for the law and the legal system in Bulgaria, deplored the lack of vigour on the part of the Bulgarian authorities in this domain (EUROPE 9189). The Commissioner indicated that it should be pointed out that these independent experts were neither acting as representatives of a national administration nor the European Commission. Mr Frattini therefore stresses that the reports issued by these experts, “should not be taken as representing the views of either Member States or indeed of the European Commission”. Mr Frattini added that such reports were used by the Commission “as one source amongst several, that feeds into the European Commission's assessments”. The Commissioner pointed out in conclusion that the Commission's official report on Bulgaria will be published on 16 May.