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The European Commission presented the third annual Report on the rule of law.

The document covers all member states of the European Union, including Bulgaria.

The report covers four main pillars - the national justice systems, the anti-corruption regime, pluralism and freedom of the media and other institutional issues related to the principle of interdependence and mutual limitation of authorities, the government press service reported.

The conclusions in the part of the Report dedicated to Bulgaria:

"The commission highly appreciates the government's political will to solve the key problems identified in the first two reports on the Rule of Law Mechanism and to fulfill our country's international commitments. The report explicitly emphasizes that the reforms in the Recovery and Resilience Plan - including increasing the accountability and responsibility of the Prosecutor General and the introduction of judicial control over the prosecution's refusal to initiate criminal proceedings are aimed at overcoming the long-standing concerns stated in the previous editions of the Report on the Rule of Law and the Mechanism for Cooperation and evaluation.

The EC tells us that the Attorney General's lack of accountability is alarming.

The document states that the lack of ability to effectively investigate accuser No. 1 is a long-term problem.

It was found not only by the EC, but also by the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe.

The powers of the Prosecutor General and his position in the Supreme Judicial Council strengthen his influence in both institutions.

The structure and work of the Supreme Judicial Council are also alarming.

The report also highlights the continuing harmful practice of long-term secondment of prosecutors and judges instead of organizing competitions for regular appointments.

The EC continues to expect results from the fight against corruption at the highest levels of power and overcoming political influence over the media.

The Commission emphasizes

At the same time, the EC takes into account the desire of the government to introduce an effective mechanism for accountability and responsibility of the Prosecutor General and his deputies.

The government's commitment to cooperation with the Council of Europe and the Venice Commission before the introduction of the relevant legislative amendments in the National Assembly is also positively evaluated.

The report also notes the government's commitment to introduce a review of all prosecutors' refusals to initiate pre-trial proceedings.

The decision of the National Assembly to close the specialized court and prosecutor's office was also reported.

According to the EC, the envisaged reappointment procedure provides sufficient guarantees to protect the independence of the judiciary.

EC in report: Bulgaria to take actions that lead to convictions for corruption against high-ranking persons

On the topic of anti-corruption, the report takes into account the planned reform of the KPCONPI, including its division into two commissions, as well as the measures proposed by the government to fight corruption at all levels of the state administration and the judiciary.

It is reported that in March 2022, Bulgaria ended the regime for granting Bulgarian citizenship against investment, for which it was repeatedly criticized in the past.

Regarding media freedom, the EC found that the professional environment of journalists has slightly improved over the past year, with media representatives having the opportunity to express themselves more freely than before.

However, the issue of media ownership transparency remains a serious concern.

The improvement of the legislative process with the adoption of the requirement that all bills be submitted to the National Assembly together with reasons and a preliminary impact assessment is marked with a positive sign.

According to the Bulgarian Prime Minister, the report shows the EC's positive assessment of what the cabinet has done for the past seven months, but also the fact that there is still a lot of work to be done and strong will and efforts are needed in terms of continuing the fight against corruption.

"For too many years, people in Bulgaria have had to watch corruption stifle the country's economic development.

Every day we experience firsthand how corruption endangers lives with poorly constructed infrastructure and neglected safety checks;

when corruption takes hold of state institutions, they serve individuals, not society;

corruption undermines democracy and the right of people to determine their own destiny," the Prime Minister stressed.

EC report