Bulgarian prosecutor warns against EU entry delay
Days before a key EU report which could recommend delaying Bulgaria's planned 2007 EU entry by one year, the country's chief prosecutor Boris Velchev has warned that this option would frustrate rather than boost entry preparations.
Speculation continues that the commission may shift its final decision on the entry date to a report in the autumn, with one official indicating "we could propose postponement [of accession] at any time – there is no deadline."
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To keep Bulgaria in the waiting room for another few months could keep EU pressure on Sofia to step up its fight against crime and corruption, which is Brussels' greatest area of concern.
But Mr Velchev, in Brussels on Thursday (11 May) meeting commission officials, told reporters that postponement of accession would have exactly the opposite effect on his work as a crime and corruption fighter.
"Frankly speaking any delay would make my job much harder," he said.
"It would mean that our efforts have not been appreciated, which would demotivate the system."
Parts of the draft report on Thursday were leaked to Reuters, but the text did not contain the crucial passage on whether Sofia and Bucharest should join in 2007 or 2008.
High-level corruption
But the document did contain strong wording on Sofia's shortcomings on crime and corruption.
"Indictments, prosecutions, trials, convictions and dissuasive sentences remain rare in the fight against high-level corruption," the document said.
Mr Vechev indicated that it was too late for his visit to be taken into account in the report, but added that "the European Commission should be conscious about the latest developments" as regards high-level corruption fighting.
"Ten members of parliament have been stripped from immunity or have been requested to be stripped from immunity," the chief prosecutor said, also highlighting the arrest on Wednesday of deputy head of the Bulgarian National Agriculture Fund on charges of bribery.
He added however that he had not made fresh commitments to commission officials on further arrests.
"I don't think we are in competition with Romania for making arrests," he said.
EU could withhold cash
In contrast to Bulgaria, Romania has recently been praised by Brussels for making progress in fighting crime and corruption, and is set to get more positive marks in Tuesday's commission report.
The two countries could see different decisions on their entry dates, as well as different mechanisms to secure reforms even after accession.
The so-called "justice and home affairs safeguard clause" would exclude the EU hopefuls from full participation in EU judicial policies - a harsh option which is only seen as possible in the more problematic Bulgarian case.
A softer "monitoring" system would see Brussels and Sofia or Bucharest agreeing together to the terms of further scrutiny of reform progress – an option backed by EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini.
The draft report from Thursday also mentioned a financial sanction if both Romania and Bulgaria are not prepared on time to absorb and distribute EU agricultural subsidies.
"If this is not remedied, the commission may take measures to ... withhold payments to Bulgaria and Romania," the report said.
But diplomatic sources said the commission is still divided over the final wording of the report on Tuesday.
In the case of Bulgaria, postponement of accession from 2007 to 2008 would need unanimous agreement by EU leaders, who will meet in June.
In Romania's case, only a majority of votes would be needed for postponement.