The European Commission surprisingly left out its expected criticism against Bulgaria and Romania for making insufficient inroads against corruption and organised crime since their accession to the European Union.

The draft of the commission's annual report on EU enlargement said that concrete results in further reforming the judiciary and fighting corruption are needed in both countries, and in Bulgaria's fight against organised crime.

The final version of the report, which focuses on the Balkan hopefuls for EU membership and Turkey, however does not contain these remarks.

The European Commission issued June 27 the progress report on the state of justice, corruption and organised crime in Bulgaria and Romania, warning them to step up their fight against corruption. The critical report gave the two newcomers another year to meet the basic EU membership rules and shore up reforms.

The main accent in the report on Bulgaria was on the justice system, the fight against corruption and organized crime, but the EC also reviewed the situation regarding other areas of concern - agricultural funding, food safety and aviation safety.

The Commission will review progress in these areas and report in early 2008.

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