The Bulgarian Post
2007-06-27 09:53:53

New EU members Romania and Bulgaria escaped legal sanctions but not criticism by the European Union on Wednesday over their lack of progress in fighting widespread corruption and organized crime.

EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini said the two countries, which joined the bloc in January, needed to step up their battle against corruption and work to overcome a backlog of cases waiting to go to court, in order to meet EU rules, AP news agency reported.

"High-level corruption is still one point of weakness, both governments are aware of this," Frattini told reporters after the European Commission adopted report cards on the two EU members. "Too few results are shown concerning practical results ... too many indictments still need to be translated into a final decision of a court, that's why we say very frankly progress made in this field is still insufficient," said Frattini.

The European Commission had threatened to invoke so-called safeguard clauses under the two countries' membership treaties. The clauses would have suspended their participation in EU justice and interior policies until they meet EU standards in the area.  Frattini warned them, however, that the threat of such a sanction would be extended until June 2008, when another report card is to be issued on their reforms.

The threat is meant to put extra pressure on the two countries to redouble efforts to overhaul their judicial systems. Frattini said the reports welcomed recent reforms and amendments to national constitutions to combat corruption and to overhaul judicial systems to cope with numerous cases and deliver unbiased judgments.

"The problem now is implementation," Frattini said. He said the two reports were fair and rejected criticism that the final reports were watered down to avoid drawing anger and lack of cooperation from Bulgaria and Romania.

"It is not a blaming and shaming exercise, it's an honest report highlighting what the two governments should do ... to get results, that's our aim," Frattini said. Drafts drawn up by experts at EU headquarters prior to Wednesday's final report were tougher against the two, but never recommended the EU punish Romania and Bulgaria for their lack of action to implement reforms.

Concern over corruption and organized crime has led the EU to insist on a long period of monitoring of the two countries' progress. Both countries must report to the EU every six months on progress in reforms to curb corruption and streamline their judiciaries — or risk losing a chunk of economic aid.

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