Fri, Feb 10 2012

CORRUPTION AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING HINDER BULGARIA'S EU ENTRY

Wed, May 17 2006 11:30 CET

1473 Views

The main obstacles on Bulgaria's way to EU accession remained money laundering and human trafficking.

According to the article, the European Commission report from May 16 meant Bulgaria needed to take urgent action in fighting organised crime if it wanted to join the EU in 2007. The Independent said the report 'painted and alarming picture' of Bulgaria as one of 'Europe's centres of human trafficking'.

Statistics show over 170 contract killings might have taken place in the last 14 years. Very few of these were successfully investigated, the report said. Other problems listed in the report included a 'very low' success rate in prosecuting corruption and human trafficking.

What the Independent called a 'litany of failings' included weak control over EU fund administration.

Despite the problems, EU was likely to admit the two countries in 2007, the article said. This would give Bulgaria and Romania a stimulus for speeding up the reforms pace. The Independent said the most likely outcome was on on-time accession with some restrictions like limited access to EU funds. A special monitoring system might also be required during the first three years after Bulgaria joins the union.

  • Print
  • Send via email
  • Translate to
  • Share:

To post comments, please, Login or Register.


Please read the The Sofia Echo forum comments policy.

More in this category

Bulgaria, Romania lambast Dutch anti-immigration website

Foreign ministries criticise website that calls on visitors to lodge complaints against immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe.

European Commission meets target for recruiting Bulgarians, Romanians

‘I am delighted we managed to identify and attract some of the brightest and best people from Bulgaria and Romania to come and work at the European Commission,’ EC Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič said.

Cold spell should ease its grip on Europe next week, World Meteorological Organisation says

The current ‘negative Arctic Oscillation’ – a weather phenomenon which leads to cold conditions in Europe and relatively warmer conditions in the Arctic – should shift into a more neutral pattern within the next two to three weeks.

Cold snap hits Europe; thaw a threat

The extreme cold has been blamed for almost 400 deaths across Europe. In Ukraine, where temperatures have fallen below minus 30 degrees Celsius, the cold is blamed for at least 122 deaths. Many of the victims were homeless.

Bulgaria among EU’s lowest government debt-to-GDP ratios – Eurostat

At the end of Q3 2011, the highest government debt to GDP ratio was in Greece, at 159.1 per cent.

© 2000-2012, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.

Web Design by RIZN

Sofia Echo Media is part of the Economedia Group.
The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted. Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site. Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com. Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments. The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes, and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.