Bulgarian Socialist MEP Accuses EC of Using Double Standards

Bulgarian socialist MEP Iliyana Yotova has criticized the European Commission for deploying double standards in evaluating the fight against corruption in EU Member States.

"There are double standards – you evaluate Bulgaria and Romania at a time when France is shaken by the the Bettencourt scandal and the German President is resigning over corruption, not to mention the current situation in Spain," Yotova said during a debate on the future of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) which took place Wednesday evening at the European Parliament.

"This mechanism and instrument is not functioning because the criteria have not been clearly defined by the Commission" Yotova told Stefan Fuele, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy.

She argued that the EC kept coming up with new criteria while the evaluations in each new progress report contradicted the conclusions in the previous report.

Yotova claimed that the CVM had exhausted its purpose.

"I hope that we shall soon have new EU anti-corruption legislation, for which we are all working" the Bulgarian MEP stated.

Bulgaria and Romania have been monitored under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism since their accession to the EU in 2007.

Yotova said that the CVM had made Bulgaria and Romania targets of EU skeptics who wanted the countries out of Schengen and Europe.