EU-Fortschrittsbericht: Bulgarien will mit regionalen Erfolgen auftrumpfen [en]
Wenige Tage bevor die Europäische Kommission einen Bericht über die Fortschritte Bulgariens bei der Beseitigung von Defiziten in den Bereichen Justiz und Inneres veröffentlicht, stellte der Innenminister des Landes gestern (28. Januar 2009) die Erfolge und Pläne für die gesamte Region vor.
Background
When Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU on 1 January 2007, the European Commission urged the two countries to meet the necessary EU requirements, putting in place a 'Cooperation and Verification Mechanism' (CVM) to replace a previous monitoring system.
With the next CVM report due in February, both Bulgaria and Romania are currently trying to improve their records (EurActiv 22/01/09), and are widely communicating work done so far. The visit of the Bulgarian minister can be considered against this background.
Mihail Mikov took over as interior minister from predecessor Rumen Petkov last April, after the latter was forced to resign following disclosures of his telephone contacts with mafia circles (EurActiv 15/04/08). Mikov is a lawyer by training, and has been a professional politician for the last fifteen years.
Speaking at a conference in the European Parliament organised by MEP Iliana Iotova (PES, Bulgaria), Bulgarian Interior Minister Mihail Mikov played the geopolitical card, stressing that his country's law enforcement services began to introduce transborder forms of cooperation with Greece and Romania well in advance of Bulgaria's accession to Schengen area.
Threats to Europe come from the east, Mikov said, citing illegal immigration, organised crime, drug smuggling and people trafficking among these. But threats also come from Western Balkan countries, meaning Bulgaria finds itself at a crossroads, he added.
South East Europe comprises countries at different stages of EU integration, and thus Bulgaria, as an EU member and part of the common space of justice, freedom and security, has a key role to play in the region, the minister said. Its main partners, he added, are EU neighbours Greece and Romania. The minister described cooperation with both countries as "extremely valuable".
Mikov explained that Bulgaria's ambition of joining the Schengen area by 2011 alongside Romania is a powerful incentive for all competent institutions to align themselves with the EU acquis. The two newcomers pushed the Union's borders further east, while Bulgaria's accession alone added a total of 1300km to the border-free area. The minister explained that Sofia and Bucharest are about to conclude a framework for conducting transborder surveys and pursuits.
Outside the EU framework, Mikov also outlined his country's excellent cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Agency, whose regional office is located in Istanbul.
Positions
Belgian MEP Gerard Deprez (ALDE), who is also chairman of the Parliament's civil liberties, justice and home affairs (LIBE) committee, said Bulgaria had never been the subject of critical debate in LIBE. Quoted by the Bulgarian interior ministry website immediately after the meeting, Deprez says the country's problems stem not from European politicians, but rather from public opinion, where there is an established view that the country needs European funds but is unable to manage them.
However, Deprez also advised the Bulgarian authorities to curb organised crime, which developed during the country's difficult transition to a market economy.
Pierre Reuland, Interpol's special representative to the EU, said Bulgaria had been a member of Interpol for the last thirty years, and "a very active member" too. "It provides a very important contribution to the Interpol database, for example, by informing about stolen documents," he went on, adding that Bulgaria is also an active user of Interpol's database.
He described the high-number of arrests in Bulgaria of people sought by Interpol as a "great success". But Bulgaria is situated in a key location and reinforcement of border control is needed, he added, explaining that Interpol is working on such a project at present.
Reuland stressed the fact that SEPCA - the South Eastern Police Chiefs' Association - is based in Sofia means that it has a major role to play, particularly as it cooperates with similar regional organisations, including from the Benelux countries, the Baltic countries, SECI (Regional Centre for Combating Transborder Crime, based in Bucharest) and ILEA (International Law Enforcement Academy, Budapest) "Direct contact between police forces is of primary importance," he added.
Reuland also called on Bulgaria to be actively involved in the latest Interpol project, an Anticorruption Academy, which he described as "a centre of excellence, open to all countries". It is set to be opened in Vienna this year. "Corruption does not only exist in Africa. We also have this phenomemnon in Europe," he told EurActiv.
Jonathan Faull, director general of the European Commission’s justice, freedom and security directorate-general, said the subject of the conference, organised by the Bulgarian MEP "could hardly be more important". "We are fortunate that the EU exists, as it gives us the legal system but also non-legislative ways to promote cooperation of police and law enforcement authorities," he added, encouraging Bulgaria to take full advantage of its membership status to develop a reliable law enforcement capacity.
Steve Harvey, from Europol’s Serious Crime Department, presented recent examples of successful cooperation with Bulgaria and Romania, in particular in combating people trafficking. The first joint investigation team was established between the United Kingdom and Romania, and helped curb a network of exploitation of over 1,000 children as beggars. He displayed photos of luxury houses in villages where the average income is less than 100 euros a month, explaining that these were the houses of the mafia, which exploited the children.
"As money from this traffic goes to Romania, now the task is to get into the houses and confiscate the assets," he said.
Hugo Brady, a justice and home affairs researcher at the Centre for European Reform in London, said that although some countries have their own problems, the institutions also need to adjust. "How can Europol and Eurojust work together," he asked, pointing at deficiencies in cooperation between these European projects. He said he had the answer: "Locate them in the same building." "I am sure one day there will be an EU department for homeland security," Brady also said.
Next Steps
- Mid-Feb.: Commission progress reports on Bulgaria and Romania under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism
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