"DEAR SIRS

 

This is to bring your attention to the latest developments in Bulgaria’s progress under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism and the implementation of the measures outlined in a series of CVM reports.

 

Following the country’s accession to the European Union in 2007, a mechanism to monitor progress in the area of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) and the fight against corruption and organised crime was put in place. Its goals, inter alia, were to facilitate the process of reporting to EU institutions on the state-of-play and developments in these areas and consulting the Bulgarian authorities on the necessary actions to be taken to implement the recommendations received with a view to achieving the desired results. The eight consecutive annual reports drawn up since the CVM was first put in place leave a lasting impression of a permanent lack of efficiency in tackling problems in critical areas, despite multiple amendments to legislation.

 

The updated Strategy for continued reform of the judiciary adopted in the autumn of 2014 was a condition precedent for the Commission’s trust in Bulgaria as stated in the CVM Report dated 28 January 2015 . Despite expectations that the declared position and intentions of the national authorities would translate into concrete actions with a foreseeable result, in 2015 no progress was achieved..."

 

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