The European Commission does not plan to send a mission of experts to Bucharest, ahead of the planned Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) report, according to Mark Gray (in picture), spokesperson for the European Commission (EC). The recent statement comes after Romanian president Traian Basescu said in December last year that the EC will send on January 11 a mission to Bucharest prior to issuing the CVM report.

The next CVM report for Romania will come in the second half of January. “Romania recently had the elections, and we thought it was more appropriate to issue the report after the new administration is installed,” Mark Gray explained.

In September last year, the Council of the European Union said it was in favor of continued assessment via Cooperation and Verification Mechanism of both Romania and Bulgaria. Set up following accession in 2007, the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism has given targets and monitored the two countries' progress in making reforms and adhering to EU norms. Hopes were high for the mid-2012 report to be the last for Romania, but a further report will be issued. More about the previous report here.

Germany and the Netherlands said they will wait for the new CVM report before making a decision about Romania's entry into the Schengen area and the Justice and Internal Affairs Council will meet in March this year to analyze the decision for Romania and Bulgaria's Schengen entry, which has been delayed over the last couple of years. Brussels sources quoted by Bulgarian media however say a decision could be further delayed after March 2013.

editor@romania-insider.com