Romania and Bulgaria officially out of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM)

The European Commission announced on Friday that it is officially closing the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) for Bulgaria and Romania.

The European Commission officially closed the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for Bulgaria and Romania, which was introduced in 2007, upon the accession of the two countries to the European Union, as a transitional measure designed to facilitate progress in the field of justice system reform and in that of anti-corruption measures, as well as in terms of organized crime, in the case of Bulgaria, indicates a press release from the European Commission Representation in Bucharest.

The European executive has now repealed the two decisions by which this mechanism was established and will continue cooperation with Bulgaria and Romania in the framework of the annual rule of law cycle, as in the case of all member states.

Since the beginning of the CVM, in 2007, the Commission has regularly reported on the progress made by Bulgaria and Romania regarding the reforms targeted by this mechanism.

In October 2019, the Commission published its last CVM report on Bulgaria, and in November 2022, the last report on Romania.

In the case of both Member States, the Commission came to the conclusion that they satisfactorily fulfilled their obligations set out in the CVM at the time of accession to the Union and had to act further to implement the specific commitments formulated in the conclusions of the reports. The implementation of those commitments was completed in June 2023.

“Allow me to congratulate Bulgaria and Romania for the important progress made since their accession to the EU! The rule of law is one of the fundamental values ​​that we all share, at the level of the Union, and both member states have advanced considerably in this field, carrying out important reforms in all these years. Today, the time has come to recognize these efforts, putting an end to the cooperation and verification mechanism. Activities in these areas can now continue in the framework of the annual cycle on the rule of law, as is the case for all member states”, said EC President Ursula von der Leyen.

“I am glad that today we can make the following official announcement: Bulgaria and Romania have fulfilled their reference objectives established within the cooperation and verification mechanism. The determination they showed and the close collaboration with the Commission over the years bore fruit. It will be important to maintain this momentum and continue efforts in the annual rule of law cycle. It is an auspicious day not only for Bulgaria and Romania, but also for the entire European Union“, the vice-president for values ​​and transparency Věra Jourová also said.

President Klaus Iohannis reacted after the EC announcement, saying it is “a great success” for our country, but the fight against corruption must not stop here.

“It is official, it is registered, the cooperation and verification mechanism for Romania has been completed. It is today’s communication from the European Commission. In my opinion, it is a great success of Romania. It took a long time, there was a lot of hard work and in the end we succeeded. I think we can conclude that Romania has changed, it is a state of law, it is a state with a functional justice system. However, I must emphasize, this is not the time to slow down the anti-corruption fight. It is time to step up the fight against drugs and the fight against tax evasion. Today, now, is a beautiful day for Romania”, said Klaus Iohannis.