EC spokesman Mark Gray has confirmed that the Commission has revealed the so-called oral assessment for Bulgaria under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.

This happened at Monday's General Affairs Council, after the presentation of the official written report for Romania.

According to Gray, the EC has marked "progress in some key areas" in Bulgaria, but the country needs to put in "more efforts" in streamlining its judiciary, writes Dnevnik.bg.

The Co-operation and Verification Mechanism was implemented after Bulgaria and Romania's accession to the EU in 2007 to monitoro the two countries' efforts in overcoming problems with corruption and organized crime.

The official report on Romania, first presented last week, has also marked "progress," but adding the country has still a lot of work to do, especially with respect to the judiciary's independence.

The EC has decided to skip some formal reports for Bulgaria and officially publish the next one in December 2013.

Some EU members, including Germany, UK, the Netherlands, Austria and Finland, have criticized that decision at the Council meeting, requesting formal reports for both countries, Dnevnik reports, citing unnamed sources.

Other memembers, such as Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, have expressed solidarity with Bulgaria's effords.

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