Monitoring report on the state of preparedness for EU membership of Bulgaria and Romania

Contents
	Introduction
	Summary of monitoring fidings
	Bulgaria
	Romania
	Safeguards and other measures
	Tools applicable to all Member States
	Tools based on the Accession Treaty
	Accopmanying measures foreseen for the accession of Bulgaria and Romania
	Judiciary and the fight against corruption
	Agricultural funds
	Food safety
	Aviation safety
	Conclusion
	Country Annex Bulgaria
	country Annex Romania

Some progress has been made in the reform of the justice system. Rules have been introduced establishing objective procedures for the appointment and evaluation of magistrates. Pre-trial proceedings have been improved by the introduction of a fast-track procedure. Further reform of the Supreme Judicial Council is necessary, in particular as regards its accountability and capacity to effectively manage the judiciary, in order to ensure the transparency and efficiency of judicial processes. Difficulties in the implementation of penal procedures persist. The civil procedural code and the judicial system act have not yet been adopted. Amendments to the Constitution need to be adopted.

The legislative framework for the fight against corruption has been improved with the adoption of amendments to the laws on political parties and on publicity of property owned by high level officials. All ministers have published their asset declarations on the internet. However, there have been few concrete examples of investigations or prosecution or charges of high level corruption. Corruption remains a problem. The public administration, including tax collecting agencies at the border and local government remain particularly vulnerable.

In the area of money laundering, Bulgarian legislation is now largely in line with the acquis. However, implementation of legislation is limited to date and so far no successful prosecutions for money laundering can be reported.

The number of cases prosecuted successfully related to organised crime is still low, Reliable crime statistics are yet to be established. Law enforcement increased and successful actions have been registered against criminal networks, in some cases in cooperation with EU Member States. However, there is still insufficient cooperation between the bodies involved in the fight against organised crime. There is no systematic confiscation of assets of criminals.
Good progress has been made lately with regard to the setting-up of the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS). However, a tight timetable is foreseen for completing the Land Parcel Identification System/Geographical Information System (LPIS/GIS) and, as a result, the necessary quality of the work to be carried out risks not to be achieved. Moreover, there are delays in the establishment of the link between the Farmers1 register and the LPIS/GIS. There remains a real risk that the IACS will not be functioning properly in Bulgaria by the time of accession. Sustained, and in certain areas reinforced efforts will need to be deployed in order to ensure the operability of the IACS.

Bulgaria has made substantial progress with regard to the collection and treatment of dead animals and animal by-products in the context of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE).The necessary measures have been adopted. However, Bulgaria needs to guarantee their effective implementation.
In the area of financial control, progress has been made with regard to the Extended Decentralised Implementation System (EDIS) accreditation process for some of the structures concerned although efforts at capacity building for implementing the Structural Funds in particular need to be reinforced. However, no accreditation has taken place yet.

The abovementioned areas were explicitly mentioned in the conclusion of the May report as needing further progress. The monitoring findings for the other issues which were still outstanding in May 2006 are as follows. As regards other the acquis areas, significant progress has been made in several parts of the chapters agriculture, fisheries, consumer and health protection and social policy and employment. This leads to a situation where Bulgaria's preparations are now on track in most areas of the acquis.

However, further progress is still needed in a number of other areas, such as social inclusion, social dialogue, anti-discrimination and public health, motor vehicle insurance, nuclear safety, environment, financial management and control of future structural funds, as well as animal diseases.
Bulgaria has made further progress with macroeconomic stabilisation and economic reform. Its current reform path should enable it to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union.

Overall, there has been some prog ress in the following areas: trafficking in human beings, child protection, and the protection and integration of minorities. Limited progress has been made in the area of detention conditions, treatment of people with disabilities and the mental healthcare and broadcasting, Further action is needed. In addition, Bulgaria needs to ensure the sustainability of public administration reform.