The European Commission (EC) said on Friday that it has formally closed the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) for Bulgaria and Romania by repealing the two decisions that had established it.
The CVM was introduced upon the EU accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 as a transitional measure to facilitate progress in the fields of judicial reform and anti-corruption, as well as on organised crime for Bulgaria, the Commission said in a press release.
“The rule of law is one of our fundamental common values as a union and both member states have delivered on important reforms in these past years. Today we recognise these efforts by putting an end to the CVM. Work can now continue under the annual rule of law cycle as for all Member States,” EC president, Ursula von der Leyen, said.
The two states will now be subject to the annual Rule of Law Cycle, a mechanism that facilitates annual dialogue between the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament together with member states, national parliaments and other stakeholders to promote the rule of law and prevent problems from emerging or deepening further.
“Closing the CVM is a success of state institutions and the entire society, which shows us that our accelerated efforts in recent years were not in vain. We responded effectively to existing dysfunctions in the judicial system and resolutely continued the fight against grand corruption,” Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said in a social media post on Friday.
Outlining the progress made in relevant reforms, the EC’s last CVM on Bulgaria was published in October 2019. In November 2022, the Commission published its last report on Romania. The EC concluded that both countries fulfilled their obligations set out under the CVM at the time of accession to the EU and needed to implement specific commitments listed in the final reports. The member states completed this work in June and Bulgaria has been monitored under the Rule of Law Cycle since then.
Source : Seenews
