THE European Commission report on Bulgaria's readiness for European Union accession, due to be published on October 25, is likely to be more critical than its predecessors.

This was said both by Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin and by the EU rapporteur on Bulgaria, Geoffrey Van Orden.

Returning from New York on September 24, Kalfin said he expected a very critical report.

"I expect the European Commission report on Bulgaria's progress towards accession to be critical, but also to take into account what has been achieved," Kalfin said.

"The report will contain criticism and this is clear. There was a lagging behind that is being made up for very quickly."

Areas in which Bulgaria was lagging behind were identified in a letter from the EC in June, but there had been progress since then, Kalfin said.

"I expect that some criticisms will have dropped away, but others may be raised," he said. "I see no drama in this. Bulgaria's progress will be reported on, and it is up to us to keep a good pace in compensating for any delays."

According to Kalfin, the EC would be much more critical compared to what it had said about the 10 countries in the previous wave of accession, so as not to be accused of being lenient towards Bulgaria and Romania.

Deputy Foreign Minister Gergana Gruncharova, who was also among the Bulgarian delegation in New York, said that the country's performance from the autumn of 2005 to the spring of 2006 would be of key importance for Bulgaria's membership.

Van Orden said that January 1, 2007 would not be explicitly set out as the accession date either for Bulgaria or for Romania.

He said that there was major pressure on the EC to be as critical as possible in the report.

EC president Jose Manuel Durao Barroso said in Strasbourg that the EU parliament would vote at the beginning of December on Bulgaria's and Romania's readiness for accession.

According to him, the EC had not yet decided whether to recommend the postponement of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania by one year.

Barroso said that Bulgaria should pay no heed to rumours that there would be exceptionally harsh criticism in the monitoring report.

EU Commissioner on Enlargement Olli Rehn, speaking at a meeting with Bulgarian and Romanian observers at the European parliament, said that the October report on Bulgaria would be objective. It would show appreciation for the efforts made by Bulgaria.

"Bulgaria and Romania will be treated on an equal footing with the 10 countries of the previous wave of accession, and the European Commission will not pose new requirements to this country," Rehn told the observers. 

Rehn said that the judicial system, pre-trial proceedings and the fight against organised crime were still critical spheres for Bulgaria.

According to Coalition for Bulgaria MP Atanas Paparizov, who attended the meeting, Rehn said that the report would not contain any opinions on the safeguard clause or a recommendation about the date of accession.

According to Paparizov, Rehn said he hoped that regardless of the criticisms in the report, Bulgaria would be able to overcome these weaknesses by April 2006, when EU member states are expected to take a final decision on Bulgaria's accession to the EU.

"Rehn said that certain EU members states are awaiting the report before ratifying our accession treaty and, given this, the report and the efforts we make to overcome the weaknesses will be highly important," Paparizov said.