The final decision on Bulgaria’s EU entry date would be taken in December, European Parliament rapporteur for Bulgaria Geoffrey Van Orden said.

The European Commission report on Bulgaria’s readiness to join the union that would be presented on September 26 would lack a final entry date recommendation, mediapool.bg reported.

EC would probably approve Bulgaria’s on time EU entry on January 1 2007, Van Orden said. The final political decision, however, was going to come later.

Van Orden refrained from saying if safeguard clauses would be introduced but said that this was possible.

The situation was unclear and all information coming from Bulgarian officials needed to be analysed before a decision was taken, said Van Orden. It was possible for Bulgaria to become EU member without the introduction of safeguard clauses but al options were going to be discussed further, Van Orden said.

Another important process that was going to influence Bulgaria’s entry date was the ratification of Bulgaria’s accession treaty in EU member states. France, Germany and Denmark have not ended the procedure yet.