site.btaMPs Adopts at First Reading GERB-UDF's Bill for Anti-Corruption Commission Closure

MPs adopted at first reading on Wednesday GERB-UDF's bill, which provides for the closure of the Anti-Corruption Commission and the transfer of its functions to the General Directorate Combating Organized Crime (GDCOC) and the National Audit Office. The other two bills submitted by MRF - New Beginning and Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria were rejected.

The bill to amend the National Audit Office Act, tabled by GERB-UDF, was approved with 121 votes in favour, 82 against and 10 abstentions. The deadline for proposals between the first and second readings of the amendments was reduced to three days.

GERB-UDF's bill provides for the functions related to detecting and counteracting corruption to be assigned to the GDCOC. It is envisaged that the investigation of corruption at the highest levels of government will once again be entrusted to investigators, in accordance with the principles of the Criminal Procedure Code when determining the competent investigative bodies. Activities related to the prevention of corruption, the identification of conflicts of interest and discrepancies in the declared assets of persons holding public office are transferred to the National Audit Office, which becomes the legal successor to the administrative structures of the Anti-Corruption Commission performing these functions.