The National Council on Anticorruption Policies with the government, chaired by Deputy Premier Meglena Kuneva has adopted a plan for countering corruption. Five sectors are mapped out as priority in this plan: the interior ministry, tax and customs administration, healthcare, agriculture and forests, transport and energy. The work on the anticorruption program within the interior ministry has marked the most serious progress and is expected to be ready by end-September. The measures within the other sectors should be ready by October 30. At the same time the ministry of justice should present by the end of the year a concept for changes in the Penal Procedure Code and the Penal Code, related to the fight with corruption.

Thus the anticorruption measures become part of a wide legal mechanism, which will allow the government to fight with corruption effectively. The initiatives also include amendments to the Law on Prevention of Corruption among Persons of Superior State Positions, as well as the tabling of the Law on Lobbying Activities, a Law on the Fight against Corruption and last but not least – a reform of the judicial system. Mrs. Kuneva commented the rejected proposals for constitutional amendments, related to the judicial reform by representatives of BSP, ABR and MRF at the temporary parliamentary committee:

“I don’t see any anticorruption strategy without a judicial reform as effective enough. So I see those as two sides of the same coin. We should convince gradually our colleagues in that. After all that was why we have signed a coalitional agreement, that is why we have a majority to rely on for these things to happen. I don’t understand why they don’t support the proposals for constitutional changes, as they have already supported the strategy for the judicial reform itself,” Meglena Kuneva explained.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev