Press Release: Bulgaria and Romania make progress but much remains to be done to tackle judicial reform and corruption

The European Commission has issued its reports on progress by Bulgaria and Romania in meeting the accompanying measures decided by the Commission when both countries joined the EU. The Commission concludes that genuine efforts and some progress has been made following extensive legislative activity by the two Governments but that the focus should now be on implementation. The reports focus mainly on judicial reform and the fight against corruption and organised crime. They highlight the need for sustained political commitment and implementation on the ground if the benchmarks set at the time of accession are to be met in full. The reports put forward a series of concrete follow up measures. This includes action plans to be drawn up by these two Member States, a targeting of available funding and continued support for institution building from the Commission as well as assistance from other Member States.