Bulgaria's government has come up with a plan allowing the European Commission and other EU members to intervene in domestic issues it cannot resolve on its own.

This becomes clear from an article in the UK publication, The Economist, entitled "A new colonialism: The Bulgarians want European help running their government".

The Economist points out that the plan the Bulgarian government came up with in February 2009 sought to supplant the existing "mechanism for cooperation and verification" of the European Commission, and suggest that European officials and diplomats be involved in monitoring implementation of laws, managing EU funds and supervising courts, prosecutors and investigators.

According to The Economist, Prime Minister Stanishev presented the plan to European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, whose response was "cool". Bulgaria's Foreign Minister, Ivaylo Kalfin, has even suggested that the same plan be applied to other problematic EU members as well.

The Economist points out that the implementation of any such plan running parallel to the cooperation and verification mechanism would likely serve to hurt the role of the European Commission. Yet, despite the allegedly negative response the Bulgarian government is reported to be continuing to put forth its idea.

The Economist article compares "this mechanism for joint government of a country" to the Soviet advisers who arrived in Bulgaria after 1944 to make sure the country was going the right way in building socialism. It also notes that while Bulgarians have very low confidence in the Bulgarian institutions, they do trust the EU institutions a great deal more.

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