New Report: EC reports on Bulgaria's progress, considers dropping monitoring

The European Commission will cease monitoring of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, but formally the decision will have to be consulted with the Council and the European Parliament. However, Bulgaria will still have to fulfill its commitments. The new commission will continue to monitor, but in another form, and it will apply to all  EU Member States.

The co-operation and verification mechanism, which has affected Bulgaria and Romania, is about to go down in history. Instead, the EC will create a new instrument to monitor the rule of law, not only in our countries, but in all EU Member States.

The European Commission is of the opinion that Bulgaria's progress is sufficient and recommends that the monitoring be dropped.  The ongoing implementation of the commitments will be monitored by a council to be set up in Sofia.

This Council will continue to carry out the dialogue with the European Commission within the framework of the future EU Rule of Law Mechanism in all Member States. Reforms related to the fight against corruption will have to continue.

Brussels expects specific procedures for the accountability of the Attorney General, as well as legislation to repeal provisions in the Judiciary Act, which require automatic suspension of magistrates in the event of criminal investigations against them and declarations of membership in professional associations.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called Bulgaria's progress impressive and explained that the final decision to suspend monitoring would be taken after consultation with the Council and Parliament.

EU Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos also commented that Bulgaria has consistently done its job.

Bulgarian MEPs from various political parties expressed their satisfaction with the disappearance of the surveillance, even more so if this opened the way to Schengen. However, there were concerns about how effective the new pan-European mechanism would be.

The Cooperation and Verification Mechanism was established in 2007 as a transitional measure to facilitate Bulgaria's efforts to reform its judicial system and to strengthen the fight against corruption and organized crime.