The committee adopted the report on Bulgaria's state of preparedness for EU
membership, drawn up by Geoffrey VAN ORDEN (EPP-ED, UK)
in response to the Commission's latest monitoring report. The committee urged
the Bulgarian government to show "increased and visible
determination" concerning problematic areas and, before the further
Monitoring Report scheduled for April 2006, "to demonstrate in a
concrete manner" that it had taken action to remedy areas identified as
being of serious concern.
MEPs called on the Bulgarian government to step up efforts
in the fight against organised crime and expressed concern about "the
brazen nature of Bulgarian organised criminal elements, their contempt for
the law and challenge to the authority of the state". They
noted that only a small proportion of serious criminal cases resulted in
penal convictions. The report also raised the issue of high-level corruption
and urged the Bulgarian government to continue work on its anti-corruption
strategy. Above all, it stressed the strategic importance of further reform
of the judiciary "as the prerequisite for all other modernising
initiatives" and called for constitutional amendment to provide clearer
division of responsibilities and greater effectiveness in the prosecution and
investigation of crime. Other problematic areas remained Roma integration,
child welfare, psychiatric care and the agricultural system. MEPs also called
on the government to improve all aspects of border control and to make
increased efforts in all areas of the internal market.
The committee took the view that Bulgaria remains on course to
meet the common objective of membership on 1 January 2007, "by
which time she must have fulfilled the conditions laid down in the Treaty of
Accession." While stressing that the accession of the
country should depend exclusively on its own merits and should not be linked
to the candidacy of any other country, MEPs nevertheless expressed the hope
that the accession of Romania
and Bulgaria
would be able to take place at the same time. Lastly, they pointed out that
the changes underway in Bulgaria with a view to achieving EU membership were
beneficial in themselves, and that the process of modernisation and reform
must continue for many years after accession. This should therefore be
reflected in the conditions for cohesion funding.