The European Commission has made a series of recommendations for further action in Burlgaria and Romania in judicial reform and in the fight against corruption. The Commission also proposes to make an overall assessment of Bulgaria and Romania's progress under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism since accession in summer of 2012.

The main conclusions of the fifth annual reports under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism with Bulgaria and Romania was adopted by the Commission. The conclusions show that these two countries need to make further progress in judicial reform and in the fight against corruption and, in the case of Bulgaria, also in the fight against organised crime. The reports stress in particular that the judiciary in both countries should make greater reform efforts.

On January 2007, the Commission established a Cooperation and Verification Mechanism to assess the commitments made by Bulgaria and Romania in the areas of judicial reform, fight against corruption and – for Bulgaria - organised crime. With regard to Bulgaria, the report on progress points to sustained political will and commitment of the Bulgarian Government to pursue its reform strategy. Even so, the report also concludes that there is an urgent need for considerable improvements in accountability and professional practice within the judiciary and the investigative authorities in order to achieve convincing results in the fight against corruption and organised crime.

Regarding the progress made by Romania, the report points that Romania improved judicial efficiency, re-established the legal basis of the National Integrity Agency, continued preparations for the implementation of the four new codes, launched preparations for a functional review of the judicial system and carried out an impact analysis of its anti-corruption policy. However, the report also concludes that Romania needs to take urgent action to accelerate high-level corruption trials and to prevent their prescription due to expiry of statute-barred periods. In addition, the Commission recommends to take further measures to improve the recovery of proceeds of crime, the pursuit of money laundering and the protection against conflict of interest in the management of public funds.

The Commission will continue to support Bulgaria and Romania and provide its next annual assessment of progress in summer 2012 as well as an overall assessment of progress under the CVM since accession in Bulgaria and Romania. The present report includes a number of specific recommendations to help both Member States to prepare for this overall assessment.