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The European Commission (EC) has placed the lack of control and accountability of the Attorney General at the center of the report on compliance with the rule of law in Bulgaria. Brussels asks the government to solve this problem, as recommended by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe.
Bulgarians are protesting the lack of sanctions for political corruption and the judiciary is still not fully reformed. There are notable connections between politicians and the media, although they are not formalized, writes the EC.
The EC report is a severe blow to the government and the attorney general. Ivan Geshev, like his predecessor Sotir Tsatsarov, has so far completely denied the problem of his criminal inviolability and responsibility in society. The European Commission is pushing for real reform that will lead to the creation of truly independent prosecutors capable of investigating the Attorney General.
Justice Minister Desislava Akhladova responded with a frozen bill introduced last year by her predecessor, Danail Kirilov, which sparked serious scandals. The project provides for the appointment of an independent prosecutor with the power to investigate the chief. The problems with this project a year and a half ago were the following: the independent prosecutor was appointed by the fiscal board, dominated by the attorney general, and would continue to work within the prosecution, that is. functionally subordinate to the boss. The project also does not solve the problem of institutional support that this independent prosecutor could count on.
“It is currently debated whether this independent prosecutor, who will investigate the attorney general, has total independence and whether he would not be subordinate to the attorney general in any way.“Akhladova said.
The blow to the government consists of the EC’s declaration that the country’s main monitoring mechanism has not yet been canceled. “A final decision is pending (on the monitoring introduced in 2007)”writes the EC.
“The lack of results in the fight against corruption is one of the key issues raised by the protests that began in the summer of 2020, and authorities are still expected to achieve consistent success with final convictions in high-profile corruption cases.“says the EC report.
The “Apartment Gate” scandal and the anti-corruption commission’s position that there is no conflict of interest are explicitly mentioned. Political lobbying in Bulgaria remains unregulated.
The Commission notes that the decision of the Constitutional Court of Bulgaria is only part of the way to achieve this task and does not solve anything by itself.
“Bulgaria is facing challenging judicial reform, in particular the adoption of measures for effective accountability and criminal responsibility of the Attorney General, as recommended by the Venice Commission,” the introduction to the Bulgarian report reads.
The composition and functioning of the Supreme Judicial Council and the SJC Inspectorate remain controversial, the EC acknowledged. The European report recalls that all members of the Judicial Inspection are appointed by the National Assembly, which casts doubts on the political influence in the institution.
The problem with the SJC is in its own structure and the great influence of the Attorney General in it.
“Attacks against the judiciary continue, but without an adequate response from the competent authorities,” the EC wrote.
It is recalled that in 2017 and 2018 Bulgaria has reformed its anti-corruption legislative framework, which has led to a better interaction between institutions.
You can follow the press conference of the European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders and the Vice-President of the European Commission Vera Yourova here:
https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/topnews/M-005445
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