site.btaBulgaria Participates in EU General Affairs Council Meeting

Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev took part in a regular meeting of the EU General Affairs Council which was held in Brussels on Monday, Georgiev's Ministry said in a press release.

Ministers discussed the Annual rule of law dialogue, following the release on July 8, 2025 of the 2025 Rule of Law Reports by the European Commission concerning Bulgaria, Czechia, Ireland and Germany.

Georgiev described the law as a key instrument for reciprocal accountability and strengthening the rigorous European standards. He presented the progress made by the Bulgarian Government within the framework of the Recovery and Resilience Plan in the reforms under "Accessible, effective and predictable justice", "Anti-corruption", "Introduction of mediation which is mandatory for certain types of cases" and "Strengthening the insolvency procedure". Over the past 10 months, Bulgaria has succeeded in catching up on its three-year lag in the reforms in the area of Justice. The Minister noted that the latest major reform is a new Lobbying Activities Act, which has been drafted after consultations with the European Commission and the OECD and will be submitted shortly to public consultation.

Responding to recommendations of the Annual Report, the Justice Ministry has prepared a project for support under the EU Technical Assistance Facility intended to build capacity for investigations in high-level corruption cases. The project has been submitted for evaluation, and its expected approval will contribute to building specialized capacity and enhanced inter-institutional cooperation in burdensome corruption investigations.

Georgiev also informed the Council of a number of other pieces of legislation initiated in the field of administrative and civil law, the digitization of administrative justice and the strengthening of the prosecutor general accountability mechanism as a measure intended to strengthen effective judicial review. 

During her visit to Brussels, the Bulgarian Justice Minister conferred with former Belgian prime minister Sophie Wilmes, who is now Chair of the Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group of the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE).

Later in the day, Georgiev also conferred with Ragna Fidjestøl, Managing Director at the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. They discussed the start of the new programming period under which Bulgaria will receive EUR 35 million for projects in access to justice, tackling domestic violence and investments in improvements of prison conditions.