Ministers have to accept at least two EU-related measures daily during the coming year, to meet the requirements for Bulgaria to join the EU as scheduled on January 1 2007. The Cabinet approved the new strategy for EU accession, European Integration Minister Meglena Kouneva said. The plan includes the acceptance of 766 new laws and regulations. Up to now, 80 per cent of the measures that needed to be implemented in 2005 have been dealt with, Kouneva said. Additional major measures are needed in the spheres of legislation and domestic order. Parliament has to approve an administrative-procedural code, as well as the penal code, Sega newspaper reported.
Next year, most new regulations will be related to free movement of goods and services. Various measures will also be implemented in the agriculture sector. Kouneva said that the EU was emphasizing measures to achieve improved transparency in national governance and an enhanced fight against corruption. She said that so far, Parliament was approving changes at a relatively fast pace.