Bulgaria would be able to join the EU on January 1 2007, EU commissioner for environment Stavros Dimas said.

Dimas met Bulgarian Water and Environment Minister Dzhevdet Chakurov during the session of the EU environmental council in Luxembourg.

Chakurov presented the manner in which his ministry planned to implement EU-recommended reforms. Dimas said Bulgaria had no critical areas and already managed to implement its EU commitments in the environmental protection sphere.

In September Chakurov and Dimas will meet again in Brussels. There, Chakurov will meet representatives of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee, as well.

During his stay in Luxembourg Chakurov met the Danish environment minister Connie Hedegaard and the German nature conservation and nuclear safety minister Sigmar Gabriel.

Gabriel promised to pay a work visit to Bulgaria in October. The visit was important since Hermany takes over the EU presidency on January 1 2007, an official Council of Ministers press release said.