Barroso slams Bulgaria over corruption
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has strongly criticised Bulgaria for its continued high levels of corruption and organised crime. "Honestly, we expect more concrete results in terms of the fight against organised crime and corruption. And it is important that all the institutions of the state cooperate in that direction," Mr Barroso said at a press conference during an official visit in Sofia on Friday (28 March), news agency AFP reported.  While the commission president acknowledged that Bulgaria's government, lead by Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, is making efforts to tackle the issue, Mr Barroso stressed that the process is moving too slowly and the commission is getting impatient. "Honestly speaking, we cannot constantly repeat that more needs to be done. Endless investigations, delayed court cases do not amount to justice." "High-level corruption and organised crime have no place in the European Union and cannot be tolerated," he continued. Mr Barroso also urged Bulgaria, which joined the bloc in January last year, to work more on its own initiative and not just wait from instructions from Brussels as the commission "cannot name the specific measures that need to be taken."
"The European Commission cannot be a judge, it cannot replace the executive and the judiciary," he said. The commission president's visit to Sofia came amidst a new corruption scandal in Bulgaria, where two top police officials were arrested after alleged links with criminals. The case is under investigation. "It remains a source of frustration that some Bulgarians are undermining the reform process," Mr Barroso said. "No-one is more interested in solving [the] issues than the Bulgarian government and the people," he added. Corruption and organised crime levels in the EU's two newest member states, Bulgaria and Romania, have often been criticised by Brussels, including in interim reports on justice and home affairs adopted in February. Following corruption and fraud concerns, the EU earlier this year also froze payments still due to Bulgaria under pre-accession aid programmes SAPARD and PHARE. The next commission reports on reforms in Bulgaria and Romania are due in the summer. The two countries joined the EU on the condition that they would keep working on shortcomings in some areas – including the fight against corruption and organised crime – and be subjected to close monitoring even after having achieved full EU membership. Opponents of their membership at the time argued that the two countries still had too much reform to carry out and that once in the EU, Brussels would lose its leverage to make Sofia and Bucharest carry out the changes.

EU hopeful on kick-starting Russia talks in June
The European Union is planning to launch partnership talks with Russia in June in attempt to set a new tone in its relations with Moscow following the election of a new Russian president but this week's NATO summit could spark yet another dispute between the two sides.  At an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Slovenia over the weekend, European leaders signalled their strong will to kick-start the long-delayed negotiations in June during a top bilateral summit in Siberia to be hosted by Russian President Dmitrij Medvedev. "I am very optimistic after this discussion that we will very soon have a mandate to start negotiating on a new agreement with a new administration using the chance for having a real partnership on equal footing, on the same level and with the possibilities of having a broad scope," said EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner. "We will take on board the preoccupations of some of the member states and I do think that we can be successful in the near future," she added.  launch of negotiations was previously blocked by Poland and Lithuania. But Warsaw later dropped its opposition after Moscow agreed to end an embargo on Polish exports of meat and meat products, and Lithuania - concerned over energy issues - looks likely to follow suit.
"I am satisfied with talks today. We are moving in the right direction," Lithuanian foreign minister Petras Vaitiekunas said after the ministerial session in Brdo. But Vilnius insists that Moscow fix a pipeline to supply a Lithuanian refinery with crude oil before giving its green light.  And Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski also stressed: "We must be directed by our values. Although Russia is an important partner to us, the partnership must not be based on double standards."  At the same time, Slovenia, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said it was confident that the member states would agree on a common mandate for talks with Russia in April. These would cover a broad range of issues, namely trade, energy, human rights and political cooperation.  The biggest EU states were particularly outspoken over the need for the EU to move forward and be united on its stance towards Russia. "I think this is a situation where we in Europe should look for opportunities to begin anew," said German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, referring to the Kremlin's handover of power set for 7 May. "It is not very useful for each of us to have separate relationships with Russia," said French foreign chief Bernard Kouchner. But despite the optimistic words, the EU could already potentially face new trouble in relations with Moscow this week due to the NATO membership aspirations of two former Soviet republics, Georgia and Ukraine. The leaders of the Alliance are meeting in Bucharest (2 - 4 April) to decide whether to boost the candidacy status of the two countries, a move strongly opposed by Russia. Some countries such as Germany are said to be against giving the go ahead to Georgia and Ukraine out of fear of antagonising Russia. In a telephone interview with the Financial Times, Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili said the NATO would make "a dramatic mistake" by denying invitations to Tibilisi and Kiev saying it would reward hardliners in Moscow. "Appeasement is seen there by them as a signal that they should act...even tougher, and they will be even more aggressive and provocative," he said, adding: "No matter what some Europeans might be thinking, it's basically giving them direct veto rights, because that's how they'll perceive it."

Sarkozy and Brown agree on 'partnership of pioneers'
Following a high-profile summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown agreed to intensify cooperation between their countries in a number of fields "as a partnership of pioneers leading the global response to new international challenges." The range of fields where the two leaders vowed to work jointly include "[reforms of] international institutions, foreign and defence policy, development, migration, climate change and energy, and global prosperity, including the promotion of practical responses to such challenges", says a 14-page joint declaration published Thursday (27 March).  More concretely, France and the UK will work together to reform institutions such as the G8, the International Monetary Fund and the UN Security Council – where they reaffirmed support for Germany, Brazil, India and Japan's candidacies for a permanent seat, as well as for a permanent African representation. They will also "tackle development and climate change together and coordinate their action in order to harness greater resources", the document reads. One of the Anglo-French goals suggests getting "16 million children into school in Africa by 2010 and every child by 2015." The two leaders also called for greater transparency in financial markets and for the improvement of risk management in a bid to "promote financial stability" following the recent global credit crisis. They also pledged to join efforts to combat terrorism and to boost the EU's military capabilities, and will work on proposals for a meeting of EU leaders in June on "how EU counter-radicalisation efforts might be deepened, for example by devoting more EU spending to counter radicalisation work." But they did not agree on how to approach the 2008 Olympic Games' opening ceremony in Beijing in August, in light of China's recent crackdown on Tibet. Mr Sarkozy has not ruled out boycotting the opening ceremony of the games. The French president, who will head the EU at the time of Olympics, said he will consult other member states before taking a final decision on the matter. Mr Brown, whose country will host the next Games in 2012, excluded a boycott and said he would attend the ceremony.  The Sarkozy-Brown meeting took place the second day of the French leader's state visit to the UK. In a speech full of praise for his host country on Wednesday (26 March), the French president called for closer Franco-British ties, as well as for Britain to play a greater role in Europe. For his part, Mr Brown returned the compliments although somewhat less effusively. "We will turn the 'entente cordiale' [cordial relationship] into the 'entente amicale' [friendly relationship]," he said at a press conference after their meeting yesterday. In the last years, relations between the two countries had cooled, notably over Britain's participation in the 2003 Iraq war which France opposed.  Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac, respectively Mr Brown and Mr Sarkozy's predecessors, also had different views on the EU's future, on the common agricultural policy and free trade. But now, although these policy differences are not completely bridged over, Mr Brown said the Franco-British cooperation could turn into an "entente formidable" – or a wonderful relationship.

EU borderless zone to be extended to airports
At midnight on Sunday (30 March) the enlargement of the EU's borderless zone to eight Eastern European countries and Malta will be completed through the lifting of air border controls between them and the 15 countries already part of the area. The enlargement of the so-called Schengen area started on 21 December when land and sea border checks between Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and the other Schengen countries were abolished.  "The enlargement of the Schengen zone to 24 member states is now complete," EU transport commissioner Jacques Barrot stated on Friday (28 March) referring to the inclusion of airports.  "I would like to underline the symbolic and concrete importance of this change," he said. "The free movement of persons represents one of the fundamental [EU] principles. [It is] concrete, as the life of the citizens moving within the Schengen zone will be very simplified," he added. While air companies will continue to perform identity checks at check-in and boarding, people will from Sunday onwards be allowed to fly from one airport to another within the Schengen area without being subjected to other formalities. In addition, "it will be the end of a certain number of long queues and procedures for EU citizens, as well as for third country nationals travelling within Schengen by air", said Mr Barrot. In order to celebrate the lifting of air borders, several member states have planned media events at their main airports. At the airport of Ljubljana, the capital of current EU president country Slovenia, EU commissioner Janez Potocnik, himself from Slovenia, will represent the European Commission at a ceremony celebrating the border opening. The Schengen area was established in 1985 and named after the small Luxembourg village where it was signed by Germany, the Benelux countries and France. It now comprises 22 EU member states, as well as Norway and Iceland. Non-EU member Switzerland is also to become a member of the Schengen area later this year, while EU members Ireland and the UK do not participate in the zone. Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania still have to meet the necessary requirements. It is not yet known when they will join Schengen, but Cyprus is expected to do so around 2009, while Bulgaria and Romania are hoping to follow suit by 2011.

Sarkozy calls on Britain to play greater role in Europe
On the first day of his state visit to Britain, French president Nicolas Sarkozy called for closer Franco-British ties and for the UK to take its full place in Europe in order to bring along necessary changes to the bloc. In a speech on Wednesday (26 March) to the joint houses of UK parliament, the French president said he wanted to "write a new page of our common history, that of Franco-British fraternity, a fraternity for the 21st century."  "I have always believed that Europe needed the UK. I have never reduced France's European policies simply to our relations with the Germans. The Paris-Berlin axis is at the essence, but it is not enough, and I have never ceased wanting to work in close cooperation with London," he later told BBC radio. In addition, as the president of a state which rejected the draft European Constitution in 2005, Mr Sarkozy said he had understood the main message of the French and more generally the European citizens at that time - that they wanted a "different Europe". But in order to make this happen, London should take its full place in Europe, he said. "So, I want to say to the British: help us build this different Europe. But for this Europe to be different, you must be part of it," he said. "Who could imagine that we can build a Europe of the future without Britain and who could imagine that Britain could live, survive alone, outside of Europe? One cannot succeed alone, we need others," he added. In particular, the French president noted, joint efforts are needed to keep the European economy competitive, to boost a common defence policy, as well as to tackle immigration. Mr Sarkozy, who is seen as the most Anglophile French president in the country's modern history, will today meet UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown to also discuss cooperation on nuclear power development and climate change. In addition, both leaders are expected to make a call on financial markets to be more transparent, following the recent global credit crisis. A discussion on UN Security Council reform is also on the agenda. Both France and the UK want a reform of the institution, making it more representative. The French president also recently called for a permanent seat to be created in the Council for Africa.

EU data protection chief criticises fingerprint plan
EU plans on regulating the issuing of passports and creating a centralised fingerprints database do not sufficiently protect the rights of citizens, the head of the bloc's privacy watchdog has said. The European Commission proposals launched in October last year set out minimum standards for security features and biometrics, such as fingerprints, in passports and travel documents.  It also suggested the creation of a centralised database for storing citizens' fingerprints, in addition to including them in passports. In an opinion on the matter issued on Wednesday (26 March), Peter Hustinx, head of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), notes that some concessions granted by the commission so far are "still unsatisfactory." "They fail to address all the possible and relevant issues triggered by the inherent imperfections of biometric systems, and more specifically those related to children and the elderly," according to Mr Hustinx. For instance, the commission proposal to exempt only those children who are less than six years old from giving fingerprints should be considered as provisional, or "brought in line with international practice (14 years)," according to the EDPS chief. The age limit for the elderly – 79 years – is also not considered satisfactory, backed by the argument that the older people get the less reliable and accurate their fingerprints are. A commission spokesperson said on Thursday (27 March) that the "quite substantial study" sent by Mr Hustinx needed first to be analysed. But he addressed the concerns about the creation of a centralised fingerprint database. Creating fingerprints databases "poses data protection challenges, nobody will deny this," he said. "However, precisely because we are aware of these challenges, we will do everything that is needed to already address those challenges in the architecture of the EU database which will contain the fingerprints (…) and ensure that we are taking duly into consideration all legitimate data protection concerns," the spokesman added. Mr Hustinx also pointed out that practices for obtaining a passport in the 27 member states still vary largely and called on the commission to examine this. He also expressed regret that the Brussels executive "did not comply with its legal obligation" and consult him on its proposal.