SOFIA FACES LAST-MINUTE DECISION ON EU ENTRY

Bulgaria could be made to wait until the last minute to find out whether it can join the European Union next year, amid serious concern in Brussels about its commitment to tackling organised crime and corruption.

One option being considered by Olli Rehn, EU enlargement commissioner, is to step up the pressure on Sofia to deliver results by delaying a final assessment of its membership bid until the autumn.

The same approach could also be taken with Romania – which also hopes to join the EU on January 1 2007 – but Mr Rehn has made it clear that Bulgaria is giving him greater cause for concern.

Mr Rehn will deliver a report on Bulgaria and Romania on May 16 and is expected to give an upbeat assessment of both countries’ preparations to join the club.

But in recent weeks he has delivered strong warnings to Bulgaria that it needs to demonstrate its judicial and police reforms are being used to arrest and convict criminal bosses.

EU officials close to Mr Rehn say one “compelling” option would be to make Bulgarian entry next year conditional on a second autumn assessment to prove that Sofia was taking a tough approach to organised crime.

Delaying a final decision could cause administrative problems, and some member states are likely to insist that Bulgaria joins in 2007 in any case, rather than being made to wait until 2008.

But with about €15bn ($19bn, £10bn) of European money earmarked for Bulgaria between 2007-13, Brussels wants to be sure that the country has serious crime under control.

Klaus Jansen, a senior German police investigator sent by Mr Rehn to Sofia to examine the country’s crackdown on organised crime, delivered a scathing verdict in a confidential report seen by the FT.

It details a lax approach to tackling people trafficking, prostitution and the counterfeiting of goods, and systemic failures in bringing to book those responsible for a wave of mafia-related shootings on the capital’s streets.

Although European Commission officials stress Mr Jansen’s opinions reflect only one viewpoint, a second expert report says Bulgaria’s judicial reforms are “chaotic” and judicial appointments display “nepotism”.

The criticisms have been reinforced by officials from the EU-led Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, who contacted the FT to add their voice to claims Bulgaria was not taking seriously the fight against organised crime.

One official from the pact – which aims to bolster peace and stability in the region – said Bulgaria had played little or no part in programmes to tackle organised crime through increased police and judicial co-operation and training in the region.

“They have a strategy of ignoring it,” said one. “They tell us they are now part of the EU class and they don’t want to be part of the Balkan class any more.”

Last week Ivailo Kalfin, Bulgaria’s foreign minister, told Reuters that reforms “haven’t given the results we would like” but said EU membership would help create a better environment.

By George Parker