Today the European Commission has presented the new report on the progress made by Bulgaria under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism.

Today's report notes that significant progress has been achieved on 17 recommendations issued by the Commission in its January report. While political uncertainty led to some delays in the implementation of reforms early in the year, the reform process has regained momentum since May. Final outcomes are still to be seen in areas requiring legislative reform and government action, such as the fight against corruption.

While the Commission cannot yet conclude that any of the benchmarks are satisfactorily fulfilled, it remains of the opinion that, with a continued political steer and a determination to advance the reform, Bulgaria should be able to fulfil the outstanding recommendations in the near future.

European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said: "We have seen progress in many areas but there is still more work needed. Bulgaria has met or made progress on several of our recommendations, but not yet all. I count on the Bulgarian Government to implement all the planned reforms, and to avoid backtracking, so that we can move towards the goal of ending the CVM under this Commission's mandate."

The Commission will assess progress again towards the end of 2018.