Bulgaria Has Met All EU Recommendations on Judiciary – Justice Minister
Justice minister Diana Kovacheva said there are no grounds to expect that the European Commission's regular report on the country's judiciary will be negative as the country has met all EU recommendations contained in previous reports.
Based on the report, which is to be issued in July, the EU will decide whether to continue to monitor the country's judiciary, which in turn will affect Bulgaria's prospects for accession to the Schengen area.
Kovacheva stressed that the direct election of the members of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) was never among the requirements contained in EU reports that Bulgaria should meet, state-run Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reported on Tuesday.
In the past months the European Commission on several occasions urged Bulgaria to reform SJC and introduce direction election of the Council members but the MPs ignored its calls.