The European Commission issued Bulgaria a warning today (19 December), saying it would closely watch the selected candidates and whether the secrecy of the vote is respected.
EU Commission spokesman Mark Gray said the EU executive was not only having a close look, but was preparing a report on the issue that will be circulated to EU member countries in early 2013.
This is the second time in recent weeks that the Commission warns Bulgaria against political interference in the election of its highest magistrates.
On 31 October the EU executive threatened to publish an extraordinary monitoring report on Bulgaria's ailing judicial system, hours after lawmakers in Sofia appointed a controversial figure, Veneta Markova, to the country’s Constitutional Court despite EU warnings. As a result of the pressure from Brussels, Markova later withdrew her candidacy and retired.
NGOs and civil society in general suspect the Bulgarian political class of appointing magistrates who act as guardians of the status quo and refrain from convicting the political and economic elite. There is little sign that Bulgarian authorities are drawing lessons and each appointment procedure reveals similar problems.
The selection process of candidates for prosecutor general has been denounced by civic groups that pointed out several deficiencies, which had also been evident during previous appointments of high magistrates.
The civil society concerns were expressed chiefly by the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives (BILI) and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, which said the election winner was announced several months before the start of the procedure.
Moreover, important details concerning the previous professional activities and the personal integrity of the candidates are not asked and clarified, while some key documents are concealed, the NGOs said.
Finally, on December 18, the Supreme Judicial Council decided to conduct the vote with an electronic system, which raised serious concerns that it allows tracking votes by each Council member. NGOs prefer a paper ballot.
The European Commission decided last July that the next monitoring report would be published by the end of 2013. Normally under the CVM mechanism (see background) reports are published twice a year, in summer and winter.
Bulgaria will hold elections next summer and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s ruling centre-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) was hoping that Brussels would not interfere with the electoral debate.
But what many observers also noticed is that since the July decision, the government made no effort to improve the country’s performance under the EU monitoring mechanism.
