Brussels, 04/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 4 February, the European Commission once again voiced its concern at the very slow progress being made by Romania and Bulgaria in the fight against corruption at high levels, and against organised crime in Bulgaria.
Both countries, which joined the EU on 1 January 2007, have been subject to a surveillance mechanism since this date, which is exercised by the Commission in a number of fields (EUROPE 9335): legal system, the management of European funds and food safety for both, and aviation safety for Bulgaria (EUROPE 9560). Monday's interim reports related only to legal questions and this surveillance may, in this particular field, lead to sanctions (safeguard clauses), such as the non-recognition by the other member states of Bulgarian and Romanian judicial decisions. In this latest stock-take, the Commission has not examined the possibility of sanctions, but it will do so next July. The option for the Commission to apply safeguard measures may be taken for three years, or until December 2009. The Commission regularly presents follow-up reports, mainly on the basis of the reference objectives laid down for each country (six for Bulgaria and four for Romania) as part of the cooperation and verification mechanism. In June 2007, both countries managed to make consistent progress, particularly by means of the adoption of a raft of legislation (EUROPE 9456). Even so, despite the serious attitude and goodwill of both parties, the concrete implementation of this new legal architecture seems to be a very difficult obstacle for them to overcome. Commenting on the progress made by Romania and Bulgaria, a Commission spokesperson, Mark Gray, declared: “we have had a fairly mediocre first interim, we hope for a much better second interim”. Nobody wants to end up having to enforce penalties or sanctions, he said. In our previous bulletin (EUROPE 9593) we anticipated the general content of the reports. Here follows the more detailed content:
The report concludes that Bulgaria continues to work effectively in the fields of the reform of the legal system and the fight against corruption on its borders, but that efforts made to fight against corruption within the local administration need to be reinforced still further in order to achieve the same positive result. However, the report feeds individual fears concerning the fight against high-level corruption and organised crime, fields in which Bulgaria has not yet produced any convincing results. For example, the Commission reveals that no concrete results have been recorded regarding improving cooperation between the various bodies in charge of the fight against corruption. It also notes an absence of any measures to protect those speaking out against infringements. Concerning corruption, particularly on the borders and within local government, the Commission states that tax-free shops situated on the Bulgarian territory, on the borders with Turkey and Serbia, and tax-free filling stations on the Bulgarian territory remain tolerated and have even seen their turnover increase considerably in 2007. These constitute focal points of local corruption and organised crime. Furthermore, since 2000, only one single case related to organised crime among the cases considered to have received the most media attention led to a definitive judgment and half of the cases are still being heard. In the fields of both the fight against corruption and the fight against organised crime, Sofia's action plan is lacking in specific objectives and effective performance indicators, the Commission stated. The transition facility of the EU alone, which will be implemented until 2010, will see more than €6 million granted to projects specially designed to help Bulgaria to achieve its six benchmarks.
In Romania, the Commission criticised delays in the reform of the legal system, particularly in coherent recruitment, the creation of a national agency for integrity, and in the drafting of a global strategy and pilot projects designed to fight against local corruption. For example, the legal framework of the national integrity agency was approved in May 2007, but the agency is still not up and running. As for Bulgaria, the report speaks of particular concerns regarding the fight against corruption at high level, a field in which Romania has yet to make any convincing results. “10 cases of high-level corruption have been held up for six months”, said Mark Gray. The transition facility of the EU, which has also been set in place until 2010, will see over €12 million granted to specially designed projects to help Romania to achieve its four benchmarks. In July 2008, the Commission will publish a new detailed report on the framework of the cooperation and verification mechanism, containing an assessment of progress made by both countries. (B.C.)