EU entrants Romania and Bulgaria progress in fighting crime

Bulgaria and Romania have sufficiently strengthened their ability to fight organised crime, including fraud, to persuade the European Union (EU) to admit them as member states next January. Assessments completed by the European Commission have concluded that reforms are adequate, but have stressed that further changes are needed. For Bulgaria, Brussels has called for more “indictments, criminal trials, (and) convictions… to ensure the irreversibility of the fight against corruption.” Regarding Romania, the Commission has called for “a more consistent interpretation and application of the law,” to underpin the increased resources that its government has devoted to its judiciary, following EU pressure.