Bulgaria Passes Anti-Corruption Judiciary Package as Condition for EU Cohesion Fund Release

Background

Bulgaria has been subject to EU monitoring for rule of law and judicial independence under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism since its accession to the European Union in 2007, a longer period of scrutiny than any other EU member state. The mechanism was established specifically for Bulgaria and Romania because both countries were assessed at the time of accession as having insufficiently developed judicial systems and anti-corruption frameworks to meet EU standards without ongoing external monitoring. For Bulgaria, the record of CVM compliance has been mixed: the country made initial progress on structural reforms in the first years after accession but subsequently experienced a prolonged period of institutional capture, with organised crime infiltration of the judiciary, political interference in prosecutorial decisions, and systematic underenforcement of anti-corruption laws. The European Commission's decision in 2022 to freeze 3.8 billion euros in cohesion funds earmarked for Bulgaria was the most direct financial consequence of this record, and it was accompanied by formal findings that Bulgarian authorities had failed to implement Commission recommendations on judicial independence and anti-corruption measures made in prior CVM reports. The freeze created substantial economic pressure on the Bulgarian government because the cohesion funds represent a major share of the country's public investment budget and their absence has contributed to infrastructure deficits in transport, energy, and environmental compliance.

The Reform Package

The anti-corruption judiciary reform legislation passed by the National Assembly on October 16, 2026 addresses the Commission's requirements across five areas. The centrepiece is the creation of an independent Anti-Corruption Commission with the power to investigate, prosecute, and refer cases for criminal trial, separate from the General Prosecutor's office, which has been the primary source of institutional capture concerns. The commission's members will be appointed by a three-fifths parliamentary supermajority, a threshold designed to require cross-party agreement and limit the ability of any single political grouping to control the institution. The second major element is a reform of the prosecutorial appointments process, replacing the previous system in which the Supreme Judicial Council played a dominant role with a new competitive selection mechanism that includes international observer participation and structured public interest scrutiny. Asset declaration requirements for senior public officials, judges, and prosecutors are expanded to include beneficial ownership of companies, real estate holdings above a specified threshold, and assets held by immediate family members, with automatic referral to the Anti-Corruption Commission for declarations that show unexplained wealth changes. The legislation also strengthens whistleblower protections, implementing the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive to a higher standard than previously applicable, and creates a dedicated fund for supporting civil society anti-corruption monitoring organisations. A sunset review clause requires the National Assembly to assess the commission's effectiveness after three years and empowers it to make adjustments to the institutional design based on operational experience.

• Independent Anti-Corruption Commission with prosecutorial powers, appointed by three-fifths parliamentary supermajority.
• Prosecutorial appointment process reformed with international observer participation.
• Expanded asset declarations for officials, judges, and prosecutors including beneficial ownership and family assets.
• Three-year sunset review clause for commission effectiveness assessment.

EU Assessment and Implications

The European Commission welcomed the passage of the reform package in a statement from Commissioner for Rule of Law Didier Reynders, who described it as 'a significant legislative achievement that meets the structural benchmarks we established in our 2022 conditionality assessment'. The Commission will conduct a six-month implementation assessment beginning November 2026, during which Bulgarian authorities must demonstrate that the new Anti-Corruption Commission has been operationally established with its full complement of staff and prosecutorial mandate, that the reformed appointment processes for prosecutors are functioning as intended, and that asset declaration systems are operational. Phased releases of the frozen cohesion funds, totalling 3.8 billion euros, will be tied to positive assessments at the three-month and six-month marks. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rositsa Kirova, leader of the GERB-SDS coalition that navigated the reform through the National Assembly over fourteen months of negotiations with opposition parties, described the vote as 'the moment Bulgaria definitively chose the European path and rejected the shadow networks that have held our institutions back'. Opposition parties including the Bulgarian Socialist Party abstained from the vote, arguing that the commission's independence provisions were insufficient, but did not vote against, providing the legislative majority needed for passage. The Commission has indicated that successful completion of the six-month implementation assessment could allow Bulgaria to exit the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism entirely, ending the longest member state monitoring process in EU history and a persistent source of institutional embarrassment for Bulgarian governments.

Sources

• European Commission
• Euractiv
• Reuters
• Bulgarian National Assembly
• Transparency International EU