14.09.2023
The government of the Netherlands closely monitors the progress in the implementation of rule of law in Bulgaria. It is inclined to resubmit to the Netherlands Parliament the issue of Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen Area as soon as the country shows more results on this issue. That was reported after Prime Minister Acad. Nikolai Denkov and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte spoke over phone.
The Prime Minister of the Netherlands praised Bulgaria for the steps already taken in the right direction, especially vis-à-vis the powers of the Prosecutor General.
Alongside, in a report presented today to the Dutch MPs in the Hague, the Dutch cabinet draws attention to two recommendations from the European Commission’s report of 5 July 2023 on the rule of law in Bulgaria, namely, on the structure and the composition of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and the SJC Inspectorate and on the prevention and counteraction of corruption.
Acad. Nikolai Denkov assured Mark Rutte that next week the Bulgarian Parliament is about to approve amendments to the Counter-Corruption and Unlawfully Acquired Assets Forfeiture Act and thus reform the Counter-Corruption and Unlawfully Acquired Assets Forfeiture Commission. The Bulgarian Parliament is expected to approve by mid-October 2023 on first reading the proposed amendments to the Constitution that concern the SJC. After that, Bulgaria will inform the Commission and all EU member states about the progress made in the implementation of the recommendations in the report of 5 July 2023.
