European Commission to Present EU Rule of Law Reports Sept. 23

European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova Thursday said the Commission will present the first annual reports under the rule of law mechanism on each EU Member State on September 23. She addressed the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), which discussed the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) applied to Bulgaria and Romania.

She noted that the rule of law has a major impact on investor activity and the state of the economy, and is expected to be tied to funding from the EU Recovery Fund.

Jourova said that the European Commission had been following closely the political situation and the protests in Bulgaria and that it has always held that peaceful demonstrations are a
fundamental right in all democratic countries. She stressed that the reaction of law enforcement bodies to the protests should be proportionate. "The peaceful protests show how much
importance citizens attach to an independent and efficient judiciary and good governance," said Jourova.

The Commission recommends seeking the specific advice of organizations like the Venice Commission with the Council of Europe on legislative revisions regarding the accountability of
the prosecutor general, including safeguarding judicial independence in line with Venice Commission's recommendations.

Constitutional reforms should be subject to a large and inclusive debate and should take the time to be able to reflect a large consensus, she said.

Regarding media freedom and the freedom of expression, Jourova said that the report on Bulgaria is not positive, and the negative trend is noticed in many other Member States.

Commenting on calls from MEPs that the European Commission take a stance on the current situation in Bulgaria, Jourova said the Commission is not the arbiter of the domestic political situation and there is a fine line between the role of the State and the role of the Commission, which should be respected.

Bulgarian MEP Emil Radev (EPP) said that with or without a mechanism, Bulgaria is pressing ahead with the reforms ."The country's government and institutions remain committed to
strengthening the reform in the judiciary and fighting corruption, ensuring the rule of law and upholding democratic values and fundamental rights. A case in point is the proposal to convene a Grand National Assembly to adopt a new constitution," he said.

Talking about the situation in Bulgaria, Bulgarian MEP Elena Yoncheva (Socialists & Democrats) mentioned scandalous levels of corruption, lack of media freedom, inefficient reforms,
systemic breaching of fundamental rights, violation of human rights, propaganda of fake news disseminated by the authorities, journalists beaten, and threatened opposition leaders. She said the proposed changes in the Constitution were "conceived in the dark and in fear".

Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Renew Europe) spoke against adopting the new constitution, one of the reasons being that it would not bring improvements.

Roberta Metsola (EPP) recognized the hard work done by Bulgaria since its EU accession in 2007, as well as the efforts made to meet the recommendations of the Venice Commission and GRECO, the Council of Europe's anti-corruption body. She said the protests of the last two months had not been ignored by the EU institutions, stressing that the EU needs a comprehensive rule of law mechanism that looks at every single Member State so that issues can be identified and solved before they lead to protests.

Sophie in 't Veld (Renew Europe) said the European Commission's monitoring of Bulgaria showed there was still unfinished business. The Venice Commission is not being consulted and involved as much as the European Commission had expected, she said, citing the accountability of the prosecutor general as an example.

Tineke Strik (Greens) commented on what she called "the constant decline of the rule of law in Bulgaria", saying the country was "in a state of endemic corruption". She also said the position of the prosecutor general was far from independent, it is really "under control of the government" and "any independent scrutiny is prevented by the system". She said the police used brutal violence against protesters who want an independent judiciary and an end to corruption. Strik also said that in view of the numerous problems with corruption and the independent judiciary, the Greens are in favour of effectively using the CVM towards Bulgaria before putting in place the new type of monitoring. She urged for freezing EU funding and for infringement procedures.

Jorge Buzade Villalba (European Conservatives and Reformists) said that Bulgaria seems to have implemented the criteria put forward by the European Commission.

Ramona Strugariu (Renew Europe) talked about the protests in Bulgaria and compared it to Belarus, saying that children were being beaten and arrested. She said this was "a profound
disgrace for a European country".

Clare Daly (European United Left) objected to the tone and content of  Commissioner Jourova's contribution, saying it was "completely at variance with the reality on the ground in Bulgaria". "If the Commission thinks that progress in Bulgaria has been good over the past 13 years, my conclusion can only be that you are either grossly incompetent or else you are
completely subservient to the interests of [Prime Minister] Borissov," she said.

Taking the floor for comments and answers, Jourova sharply rejected Daly's allegation, saying that she was doing her job  with full objectivity. RY/DD

Source: BTA