The Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification (CVM) is a safeguard measure invoked by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

when a new member or acceding state of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

has failed to implement commitments undertaken in the context of the accession negotiations in the fields of the

Area of freedom, security and justice The area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) is a collection of justice as well as migration & home affairs policies designed to ensure security, rights and free movement within the European Union (EU). Fields covered include the harmonisati ...

or internal market policy.

Background

Common practice in the EU is that during accession negotiations there are agreed some temporary transitional periods after accession of new states for derogation of application for specific parts of the ''

acquis communautaire The Community acquis or ''acquis communautaire'' (; ), sometimes called the EU acquis and often shortened to acquis, is the accumulated legislation, legal acts and court decisions that constitute the body of European Union law that came into b ...

'', because of difficulties either for the new member state (lime

environmental regulations Environmental law is a collective term encompassing aspects of the law that provide protection to the environment. A related but distinct set of regulatory regimes, now strongly influenced by environmental legal principles, focus on the manage ...

for large combustion plants) or for the old member states (like

free movement of workers The freedom of movement for workers is a policy chapter of the acquis communautaire of the European Union. The free movement of workers means that nationals of any member state of the European Union can take up an employment in another member stat ...

). Such temporary transitional periods in regard to particular member states are also implemented when various new pieces of EU legislation are adopted . In some cases the derogation is not temporary but permanent. Such derogations can be either major

opt-outs in the European Union In general, the law of the European Union is valid in all of the twenty-seven European Union member states. However, occasionally member states negotiate certain opt-outs from legislation or treaties of the European Union, meaning they do not ...

(formulated in a

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pe ...

) or minor derogations like the exemption of Sweden from the

snus Snus ( , ) is a tobacco product, originating from a variant of dry snuff in early 18th-century Sweden. It is placed between the upper lip and gum for extended periods, as a form of sublabial administration. Snus is not fermented. Although used ...

ban (formulated in EU legislation). Both opt-outs and CVMs suspend the application of relevant provisions of

EU law European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its val ...

in regard to particular member states, but in contrast to opt-outs, which are established on the initiative of the states concerned, CVMs are established on the initiative of the commission. In contrast to temporary derogations, which are automatically discontinued after the end of the transitional period, the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification is permanent, and its discontinuation is conditional only on the positive assessment of the fulfilment of benchmarks in the regular reports issued by the European Commission. That is similar to the permanent derogations on

Eurozone The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro ( €) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU polici ...

and Schengen Area for new member states (formulated in accession treaties), whose discontinuation is also conditional on fulfilling benchmarks (like the

convergence criteria The euro convergence criteria (also known as the Maastricht criteria) are the criteria which European Union member states are required to meet to enter the third stage of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and adopt the euro as their currenc ...

), which are similarly assessed in regular progress reports. According to the treaties, new member states are obliged to fulfill the benchmarks for discontinuation of both permanent derogations and CVMs, but some of them deliberately delay those processes. The CVM is thus different from the

Enhanced co-operation In the European Union (EU), enhanced cooperation (previously known as closer cooperation) is a procedure where a minimum of nine Member state of the European Union, EU member states are allowed to establish advanced European integration, integrat ...

mechanism in which all EU members are generally free to opt in at any time into an already-established enhanced co-operation initiative, without preconditions.

Legal base

The accession treaties include provisions such as:

Implementation

The internal market safeguard clause has not been invoked so far. The safeguard clause for criminal law and civil matters was invoked in regard to the countries of the 2007 enlargement. On 13 December 2006 the commission established the following mechanisms for cooperation and verification of progress: * for

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

to address specific benchmarks in the areas of

judicial reform Judicial reform is the complete or partial political reform of a country's judiciary. Judicial reform is often done as a part of wider reform of the country's political system or a legal reform.Peter Barenboim, Natalya Merkulova.The 25th Anniversary ...

and the fight against corruptionRomania CVM
/ref> * for

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

to address specific benchmarks in the areas of

and the fight against corruption and

organised crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

Bulgaria CVM
/ref> These measures entered into force as of the first day of accession, 1.1.2007. The Commission assessed that "When they joined the EU on 1 January 2007, Romania and Bulgaria still had progress to make in the fields of judicial reform, corruption and organised crime. To smooth the entry of both countries and at the same time safeguard the workings of its policies and institutions, the EU decided to establish a special "cooperation and verification mechanism" to help them address these outstanding shortcomings." The Commission issues reports under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism every 6 months on progress with judicial reform, the fight against corruption and, concerning Bulgaria, the fight against organised crime. So far, no suspensions are enforced, but the possibility for those is stated in paragraph 7 of the decisions for CVM establishment from 2006.

Benchmarks for Romania

# Ensure a more transparent, and efficient judicial process notably by enhancing the capacity and accountability of the Superior Council of Magistracy. Report and monitor the impact of the new civil and penal procedures codes. # Establish, as foreseen, an integrity agency with responsibilities for verifying assets, incompatibilities and potential conflicts of interest, and for issuing mandatory decisions on the basis of which dissuasive sanctions can be taken. # Building on progress already made, continue to conduct professional, non-partisan investigations into allegations of high-level corruption. # Take further measures to prevent and fight against corruption, in particular within the local government.

Benchmarks for Bulgaria

# Adopt constitutional amendments removing any ambiguity regarding the independence and accountability of the judicial system. # Ensure a more transparent and efficient judicial process by adopting and implementing a new judicial system act and the new civil procedure code. Report on the impact of these new laws and of the penal and administrative procedure codes, notably on the pre-trial phase. # Continue the reform of the judiciary in order to enhance professionalism, accountability and efficiency. Evaluate the impact of this reform and publish the results annually. # Conduct and report on professional, non-partisan investigations into allegations of high-level corruption. Report on internal inspections of public institutions and on the publication of assets of high-level officials. # Take further measures to prevent and fight corruption, in particular at the borders and within local government. # Implement a strategy to fight organised crime, focussing on serious crime, money laundering as well as on the systematic confiscation of assets of criminals. Report on new and ongoing investigations, indictments and convictions in these areas.

Table

Current developments regarding Bulgaria

In January 2014, the European Commission issued a report on progress in Bulgaria in a very diplomatic language; without allocating specific guilt to any political party, government or person, Brussels stated that a lot must still be done.

Future usage

More than three years have passed since the 2007 enlargement to Bulgaria and Romania, so as of 2014 no new safeguards can be invoked.

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

acceded to the European Union on 1 July 2013, but no safeguard clauses were invoked for it.EURACTIV - Croatia
/ref>

References

External links

Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification for Bulgaria and Romania
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mechanism For Cooperation And Verification Politics of the European Union