Network of Anti-Corruption Specialists

In its recent Romania report, under the cooperation and verification mechanism, the European Union has lambasted  the country over its flagging efforts to fight corruption, while giving a positive report on the work of Bulgaria’s new government.  The Bulgaria report points to a strong momentum of reform which has been established since the Commission’s last annual report in July 2009. The Commission sees political will to achieve a reform of the judiciary and urges Bulgaria to continue in its reform efforts. On Romania, the Commission report points to important shortcomings in the country’s efforts to achieve progress and notes insufficient political commitment to support the reform process. In addition, according to the report, the leadership of the judiciary has had on occasions appeared unwilling to co-operate and take responsibility for reform. Lack of efficiency of the judicial process and the lack of consistency of jurisprudence remained real weaknesses in Romania, according to the Commission. According to the Commission, the amendments to the law on the National Integrity Agency voted on 30 June represented a serious step backward.