The Monitoring Committee, meeting today in Paris, proposed closing the post-monitoring dialogue with Bulgaria and following the developments in the country about the rule of law, democracy, and human rights in the framework of its periodic reviews.
By adopting the report by Thórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC) and Deborah Bergamini (Italy, EPP/CD), the committee commended Bulgaria for having overcome the political crisis and instability (illustrated by five consecutive early parliamentary elections in 2021-2023) and the fact that a coalition government was established in June 2023.
“The authorities have been able to assemble the parliamentary majority required for constitutional changes indispensable for the establishment of an independent judiciary and safeguarding the sustainability of the reform,” the parliamentarians said. The constitutional amendments in the field of the judiciary constitute, overall, considerable progress in the accomplishment of Bulgaria`s commitments and obligations, they underlined.
The committee also welcomed the measures undertaken by the authorities to combat high-level corruption and the adoption of the Anti-Corruption Act Law in October 2023. It notes that considerable progress was achieved in freedom of expression, the protection of journalists and whistleblowers, the combat against violence against women, and the fight against hate speech.
However, the committee considers that some remaining shortcomings still require remedy, in particular about the integration of the Roma population. It called on the authorities to continue the ongoing constitutional reform and address other outstanding issues in close cooperation with the Venice Commission.
Finally, the committee called on the authorities to implement the recommendations of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) and to cooperate with the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers to improve the execution of the European Court of Human Rights judgments (more than 90 judgments of the Court are awaiting implementation, over 50% have been pending for at least ten years).
Bulgaria joined the Council of Europe in 1992. Until 2000, it was subject to the full parliamentary monitoring procedure. Using Resolution 1211 (2000), PACE decided to terminate the monitoring and open a post-monitoring dialogue./BGNES
