EU-Commission on the progress and regress of Bulgaria and Romania in the Justice sector

Since the EU accession of Bulgaria and Romania on 1.1.2007, the European Commission reports to the European Parliament and the Council at least annually with regard to the progress registered by both countries within the scope of the cooperation and verification mechanism. This mechanism was introduced 2006 by the Commission, due to the fact that, despite the progress reached in the consolidation of the rule of law, both countries still had deficits in this field. Solving these deficits ought to be both encouraged and verified. For this purpose, the countries had "Benchmarks" imposed.