Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry "notes with satisfaction" that the March 23 2010 report by the European Commission on its Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) with Bulgaria is the result of actual interaction in sharing data and conclusions between Sofia and Brussels, a statement said.
 
The CVM was set up to provide a mechanism with benchmarks to measure Bulgaria’s progress in meeting EU standards in fighting organised crime and corruption, and reforming its judiciary, after the country joined the EU in January 2007.
 
The report said that in the past six months, Bulgaria had launched a number of important initiatives which show will for reform.

"Although the merit of these initiatives can only be assessed once they will have produced concrete results, they demonstrate a growing recognition that substantial and far-reaching reforms are required," the European Commission said.

The report refers to the continuously poor results of the judicial system to investigate, prosecute and try cases of high-level corruption and organised crime.
 
The report, one in a regular series, is the first such document to be released after Prime Minister Boiko Borissov’s party GERB won Bulgaria’s July 2009 national parliamentary elections, on a platform including pledges to combat corruption and organised crime and to get EU funds unblocked.
 
Bulgarian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vessela Tcherneva said that the findings and recommendations of the report faithfully reflected both progress and the need for further progress in fulfilling the criteria laid down in the CVM.
 
"The report clearly recognises the political will of the Government arising from the clear mandate from Bulgarians to combat crime and reform the law enforcement authorities," Tcherneva said.
 
The report had noted the positive significance of the steps taken in regard to police and prosecutors in the past six months, and in particular the charges laid against two former cabinet ministers, two members of Parliament and a former director of a state agency.
 
The Foreign Ministry noted with satisfaction that the text of the report was the result of genuine interaction in sharing data and conclusions between the EC and Bulgaria. This meant that the mechanism really involved co-operation and verification and was not just a means of Brussels controlling Sofia, as had been the case with the former tripartite governing coalition, Tcherneva said.
 
The CVM would continue to play a useful role in complementing the efforts of Bulgaria’s institutions against organised crime and corruption, and towards the rule of law and justice in Bulgarian society, Tcherneva said.