Bulgaria makes progress on justice

Franco Frattini, the European commissioner for justice, freedom and security, has said that Bulgaria is making progress in addressing shortcomings in the area of justice, just months ahead of a final assessment of the country's preparedness to join the EU.

Frattini will visit Sofia on Monday (31 July) and his opinion on how much progress has been made in judicial reform, organised crime and corruption will be an important factor in determining whether Bulgaria joins the EU next January or not.

His visit has been preceded by meetings in Brussels with the Bulgarian Prosecutor General, Boris Velchev, and Meglena Kuneva, the Europe minister.

Bulgaria was singled out in a Commission report in May for lack of progress on the enforcement of anti-money-laundering laws, implementation of laws on corruption and prosecutions of organised crime gangs. Romania by contrast, which Frattini will visit after Bulgaria, was lauded for making changes in these areas. This prompted speculation that Romania would join ahead of Bulgaria in January. The Commission's final assessment of both countries' readiness for EU entry will be published on 26 September.

During their meetings with Frattini, the Bulgarian president, prime minister and ministers for the interior and justice will emphasise what progress has been achieved. "He will speak with top level officials and what he says in Bulgaria will be important," said one Bulgarian diplomat.

Bulgaria sent a report to the Commission two weeks ago detailing recent changes including eight convictions and 31 indictments of people involved in "high-level corruption, including magistrates" while more than 200 crimes involving bribery and abuse of official position were investigated. In the area of organised crime the report says 44 gangs were dismantled and 20 indictments were made against 80 people. Up to the end of June, ten indictments were made for money laundering against 16 people and 44 pre-trial proceedings were in progress.

Changes to the legal structures have been made. These include a law to end the separation of investigation of big and small crimes by different bodies and bring them under the auspices of the ministry of the interior. A public campaign involving television advertising with a hotline to report corruption has also been launched.

The Commission said this week it would also be looking for evidence of reform to the constitution to safeguard the independence of the judiciary. "Reform of the judiciary is important...they have to work on this," said a spokeswoman.

Bulgaria's assessment will also depend on reports by experts from EU member states at the behest of the Commission in specific areas. One such 'peer review' is currently being done on organised crime and another on money laundering will be carried out next month.

Franco Frattini, the European commissioner for justice, freedom and security, has said that Bulgaria is making progress in addressing shortcomings in the area of justice, just months ahead of a final assessment of the country's preparedness to join the EU.