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© Diary
Problems with the rule of law and freedom of the media, cited for years, continue to exist or worsen in Bulgaria.
The power and accountability of the Attorney General and the controversial functioning of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary, the low confidence of citizens and companies in the independence of the judiciary, the lack of prohibition on politicians and elected officials possessing the media, the low quality of almost 40% of the legislation Regulation of pressure groups are just some of these problems.
They are included in the Bulgarian part of the first Annual Report on the rule of law in the European Union, which is one of the main initiatives of the European Commission. It has separate chapters for each of the 27 member states and is part of the general European rule of law mechanism announced by Commission President von der Leyen.
You can read what he says about the media environment here.
The report is designed not to compare whether a country is more corrupt or with media more dependent on power. But for those who follow the processes in Bulgaria, the presence of problems repeated over years and decades is evident in how much remains to be done to combat corruption and reverse the trend of deterioration of democracy in the country.
Its purpose is to act as a preventive tool, monitoring significant processes – both positive and negative – to have enough information and to stimulate discussion and prevent problems with legality.
It does not replace the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism introduced in 2007, but its volume is much smaller. In short, the information about Bulgaria is compiled in just 19 pages. Here is a summary of what is written on them:
For the fight against corruption
Attacks on the judicial system in Bulgaria are increasing without a response from the competent authorities.
Despite years of reform, the Attorney General continues to have considerable power and influence, practically all prosecutors and investigators are subordinate to him, can annul or rectify without judicial supervision any decision of any prosecutor, sanction and instruct prosecutors, even specific cases. His power is not a unique Bulgarian phenomenon, but there are concerns about combining it with his position at the SJC, where he has significant influence.
The very structure of the SJC may limit the independence of judges, as it does not sufficiently protect them from pressure from the government, parliament, magistrates, incl. the Attorney General and the SJC itself. The judges have been the target of attacks and public criticism for their decisions.
The level of trust in the institutions supposedly fighting corruption remains low.
The lack of results in the fight against corruption is one of the key issues raised by the protests in the summer of 2020.
Robust results have yet to be established to bring high-level corruption suspects to justice. It is also important that institutions are given sufficient resources to fight corruption effectively.
There is concern about lobbying, which remains unregulated by law in Bulgaria, and about the transparency and predictability of the country’s legislative process.
For the media
Constitutional laws and guarantees for media pluralism are often not effectively enforced.
The lack of transparency about media ownership is a cause for concern.
The legal framework to protect journalists from political interference it does not explicitly prohibit politicians from owning media, but there is evidence of a link between political actors and some media.
Several media freedom associations reported physical assaults or attacks on journalists online.
Balance between institutions
Issues of mutual control and balance between individual institutions and authorities include concerns about the limited use of advice and impact assessment in law-making.
The resources of national human rights institutions are limited, but their work continues to improve. However, the already limited space of the civil sector may be further affected by the draft law on foreign funding of non-governmental organizations.
Whats Next
The report should help all member states to explore ways to overcome challenges, learn from the experiences of other countries, and show how the rule of law can be further strengthened with full respect for national constitutional systems and traditions. It is the job of the European Commission only and provides it with information and arguments to prepare the mechanism to link access to EU funds with the rule of law.
This mechanism is still under development in a dialogue between the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, which is currently led by Germany. The presidency today announced that the Member States have agreed on a position to continue this process, on which depends the approval at the end of the year of 1.1 trillion euros in the 7-year EU budget and anti-crisis instruments.
At the beginning of December, when the European Commission should publish its Action Plan for European Democracy. It will be the framework that will describe how EU values, laws and money are protected through the new European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Rule of Law Mechanism.
But in the meantime, MEPs in the plenary hall of the European Parliament and representatives of the EU governments will deal specifically with Bulgaria.
More details are expected later at www.dnevnik.bg.
