Bulgaria still has no progress on improving the effectiveness of investigation and a robust track-record of prosecution and final convictions in high-level cases of corruption including through the institutional reform of the Anti-Corruption Commission and specialized judicial authorities.

This is stated in the European Commission's 2023 annual rule of law report, pulished today, BNR's correspondent in Brussels Angelina Piskova reports. The report notes Bulgaria's significant progress in the introduction of a mechanism for effective accountability and criminal responsibility of the prosecutor general and the introduction of judicial control over the prosecution's refusal to initiate criminal proceedings, as well as the improved national coordination mechanism for the rule of law, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said at today's government meeting.

The European Commission is taking steps to definitively end the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for Bulgaria and Romania, confirmed EU Commissioner for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova.