EU Commission reaches same conclusion … for the sixth time
Civitas, 24 March 2010
On Tuesday the EU Commission criticised Bulgaria and Romania for their lack of progress in reforming their judicial systems, and for their failure to deal with corruption. This is the sixth time the Commission has reached this conclusion, writes Natalie Hamill.
Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in January 2007. Their accession was highly contentious and, despite meeting the criteria for EU membership, some EU states felt their legal systems in particular were weak and out-dated. Aware of the onset of “enlargement fatigue” (10 states joined the EU in May 2004) EU Commission President Barroso promised “strict and credible” measures to ensure the two states pass judicial reforms, and that “safeguard clauses” would be enacted if standards were not met by the end of March 2007.
The EU also established a Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), which insists on twice-yearly reports. The CVM has faced criticism for being weak and for failing to establish adequate indicators to judge when progress is made. Bulgaria has asked for the CVM to be reformed, Romania wants it scrapped. Mark Gray (spokesman for the Commission) however referred to it as a “valuable instrument in keeping the reform process on track”.
Over the years, the EU has tried many ‘carrot and stick’ tactics to speed up reform – Action Plans were drawn up, and funding was specifically allocated for judicial reform (it was then blocked after bogus projects emerged in Bulgaria, and then unblocked again…) There was also talk of making the states’ accession into the Schengen area conditional on the successful enactment of the reforms, but that idea has since been dropped.
Three years after the March 2007 deadline, the Commission’s rhetoric this week sounded remarkably familiar: “The European Commission urges authorities in Bulgaria and Romania to step up their efforts especially in turning arrests and indictments into final sentences.” The only difference is that the “safeguard clauses” have now expired…
Despite the EU’s various attempts to encourage reform in Bulgaria and Romania, it gave away the biggest incentive when it granted them membership of the Union. Croatia (the country next in line to join the EU) faces similar judicial challenges, so the Commission must ensure Croatia’s judicial system is reformed before it joins the EU.