The EU Commission President Jose Barroso denied media reports that the decision on the accession date of Romania and Bulgaria will be delayed by up to five months.

"The European Commission will definitely take a decision on Bulgaria and Romania on May 16," Barosso said in the European Parliament without specifying what the decision will be.

The statement came as a surprise since rumours for delaying the judgement till the autumn have been circulating for about a week already. Earlier on Tuesday media reports said Jose Barroso has decided to make Bulgaria and Romania wait until the last minute to find out whether they can join the European Union next year. The postponement was believed to aim to give more time to assess whether the two countries are on the right path in tackling corruption and organised crime.

"As regards Romania and Bulgaria, we must be clear and honest, because there are different rumours and speculations," the Bulgarian News Agency cited Barroso as saying.

He said there are theoretically three options for the EU Commission to consider for its upcoming May 16 report - no recommendation, meaning the accession of one or both countries in 2007, no recommendation but the submission of a "must do" list, or a recommendation to delay of one or both to 2008.

"There are several options and the Commission has no intention to delay the decision on Bulgaria and Romania," Barroso said.

He called on EU member states parliaments, which are yet to ratify Bulgaria and Romania's contract for accession, to press ahead with the process.

The Financial Times earlier said Barroso's biggest concerns were over Bulgaria, "where police and judicial reforms have so far failed to yield high level prosecutions of criminal bosses or crooked politicians."

Bulgaria once led Romania in EU reforms but stumbled last year after a protracted political standoff and a failure to lay corruption charges against high-level officials or convict anyone for a string of contract murders.

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