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Iratxe García Pérez: Borissov has failed as a leader

Post Syndicated from Joanna Elmy original https://toest.bg/iratxe-garcia-perez-interview-english/

Към статията на български >>

Spanish MEP Iratxe García Pérez is the chair of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group (S&D) in the European Parliament, of which the Bulgarian Socialist Party is also a member. S&D are the second largest group after the European People’s Party (EPP). García Pérez is also a part of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), which questioned the Vice-President of the EU Vera Joúrova on media freedom and rule of law in Bulgaria. We sent her questions about the ongoing protests in Bulgaria and Europe’s role in safeguarding European values. 


On September 11th Politico wrote that you sent a letter to President von der Leyen in which you insist that the next EU budget be tied to explicit conditions regarding the rule of law. Can you tell us what sparked this initiative and what are your demands precisely?

Ahead of the annual speech on the State of the Union delivered by the Commission President, I sent a letter to Mrs. Von der Leyen, in which, on behalf of the S&D Group, I raised the most important issues that the EU is facing and which we think should be addressed as a matter of priority. The rule of law is one of them. Respecting the rule of law and European values is the pillar of the European project. The EU is not a business club, but a Union of values and principles. No government can violate those values without suffering the consequences. This is why we need a rule of law conditionality. My Group calls for a real and meaningful EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental rights to be put in place, provided with the possibility for proper sanctions, including suspending payments from the EU budget.

OLAF’s annual report for 2019 came out a few days ago. Given your initiative, do you find this mechanism – which relies on reporting by national authorities and citizens, and has a recommendation-only function –  effective for monitoring EU funds abuse? To give an example, Hungary has a disproportionately large share of financial irregularities compared to any other EU member. Yet Hungary has reported 64 fraudulent irregularities (only Poland has reported more, 89), whereas Bulgaria – only 2 for the program period 2014–2020. This sure plays a role in the final numbers: no crime reported, no crime detected. 

I do not have the information about the specific number of cases you mention, but as a general principle it would be crucial to effectively monitor the use of EU funds. It is important for transparency and for the citizens to trust the European institutions.

In that case, would reforming OLAF be a part of the effective measures to monitor recovery funds spending?

I need to stress that reporting is not a matter of choice. Member states are obligated to report all financial irregularities to the European Commission. They have an equal obligation to protect the EU funds and do everything to counter fraud and any other illegal activities.

We are currently in the middle of a complex negotiation process to revise the functioning of OLAF and assess what needs to be improved. The S&D Group is very much in favor of strengthening OLAF and giving OLAF access to bank accounts to allow for more thorough investigations. For S&D it is extremely important that OLAF has access to all the information it needs to investigate effectively.

In addition, we will soon have a European Public Prosecutor’s Office – a new European body to tackle large-scale, cross-border crime involving EU funds. It will have the power to investigate, prosecute and bring to justice crimes against the EU budget, such as fraud and corruption.

We rely on the cooperation of our friends and neighbours, and we must work as a team. We are making progress, but there is still more to do. S&D is committed to making positive changes to ensure EU funds are spent in the most effective way possible.

Let us focus on Bulgaria. Politico quoted your letter: “We must live up to our values. We can no longer accept the situation in countries such as Poland or Hungary.” But Bulgaria fares worse than Poland or Hungary in corruption perception, media freedom (last in the EU), human rights, health system performance — the list goes on. Why are Hungary and Poland consistently given as examples of failed EU integration and breach of EU norms, given how clear the numbers coming from multiple sources are? 

Hungary and Poland are the two EU countries against which a formal procedure based on Article 7 of the Treaty was launched. This procedure is the last resort to resolve a crisis, to ensure the EU country complies with the EU values. The outcome can lead to far-reaching sanctions.

As your question suggests, there are more Member States with very worrying developments, including Bulgaria. The EU has certain tools to prevent threats to the democracy, but unfortunately, they are mainly based on a dialogue with a member state concerned. This is why our Group is calling for a rule of law conditionality with links to the EU budget, to endure that we put an end to those violations.

Do you think that what is happening in Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland undermines the image of the European project? How can citizens both East and West be expected to believe that Europe will defend justice and will serve their interest, if the Commission and certain politicians turn a blind eye to blatant evidence of injustice? 

This is the very reason we should not give up. I have trust in European citizens, especially in young people who believe in democracy, in fundamental values, and freedom. I also trust that Europe as a whole can do better. This is why we are fighting hard to put in place effective instruments to hold governments accountable. Having said that, I think it is also important to overcome the division between East and West, between North and South. This is why I say that I have trust in European citizens. I think all of our citizens in the EU deserve the same recognition of rights and deserve to play a role in our common project.

Му impression is that many MEPs are closely familiar with the situation in Bulgaria. Do you think tolerance for Prime Minister Borissov’s government in Europe is political and related to the dominant position of the EPP, and the need to preserve that position? How is Borissov perceived among European politicians? 

Many Members of the European Parliament and in particular those working in the Civil Liberties Committee are very familiar with the situation in Bulgaria. Just last week, the Committee debated the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for Bulgaria. A special Democracy, rule of law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group continues to follow the latest developments in Bulgaria in relation to democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights, especially media freedom, independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers. T police brutality during the ongoing protests in Bulgaria made it pertinent for the Parliament to hold a full-fledged debate in the plenary and demand actions. I would certainly not call it “tolerance for PM Borrisov’s government”. I do note, however, the silence from my EPP counterparts when it comes denouncing breaches by their own governments.

How can fellow Europeans perceive of a leader of a country, which is still drowning in corruption; where media freedom, according to Reporters without Borders, is lower than in countries such as Mali or Angola; where journalists and oppositions leaders, or even elected Members of the European Parliament, are threatened; where mafia structures are still prevalent? Isn’t this a failure of the leader? The Bulgarian people deserve better.

In a healthy democracy the opposition could be counted on to counter malevolent influence coming from the ruling powers. However, the last few years were marked by stark convergence on various political matters between Bulgarian Socialists and ruling Conservative-Nationalists. Local observers and journalists call the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) “Borissov’s crutch”. As my colleague wrote, Bulgarian Socialists played a major part in the campaign against the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, for example, as well as in misinformation campaigns against the Child Protection Strategy and the Social Services Bill. My question is: if the situation was reversed and BSP was the dominant power “gone rogue”, would the S&D still uphold its position as defender of EU principles? And on a larger scale, how in your opinion can we guarantee that political interest does not take precedence over European values in the future? 

There is no place for tolerance based on political affiliations, when EU values are being undermined. We are even more fierce with our own sister parties, and we engage in more intense debates internally. If you want to lead by example, it must start by keeping your own house in order. Leading by example and accountability to citizens is what guarantees that political interests do not take precedence over fundamental values.

Cover photo: © Iratxe García Pérez

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Clare Daly: Change comes from people, not politicians

Post Syndicated from Joanna Elmy original https://toest.bg/clare-daly-interview-english/

Към статията на български >>

A few weeks ago, Irish MEP Clare Daly caused a media storm during the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) hearing, when she sharply criticized Commission Vice President Vera Joùrova for the European Union’s lack of action on Bulgaria – the poorest and most corrupt member of the Union. Daly is one of the most vocal MEPs in Brussels’s hemicycle, and among the most active Irish European representatives.

Our interview takes place less than an hour after Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union Speech, and Daly opens the conversation by calling it “a hypocrisy”:

“She talks about fair and free elections in Belarus, she talks about European money not being used to feed corruption… They have indisputable evidence that this is exactly what has been happening in Bulgaria and they have done nothing about it. The whole speech was so hypocritical, but in the context of Bulgaria the contradiction in her words was even clearer.”

For a European politician – or any politician in general – Daly is refreshingly straightforward and not afraid to tell me what she thinks. She is a member of Independents 4 Change, an Irish socialist party in the European United Left – Nordic Green Left group. We continue the discussion on Von der Leyen’s speech, during which the European Commission President laid out ambitious plans for the future of the EU in areas including the rule of law, foreign diplomacy and policy, and healthcare.

“That’s the brand of the European Union. It sounded like propaganda and I am sure a lot of citizens in a lot of European countries felt this way. Take the people in Italy, who felt that there was no solidarity in the beginning of this mess; and she talks about people in Afghanistan?” she laughs in disbelief.

I ask her whether Von der Leyen’s speech reflects the disconnect to which many have been referring during the summer of protests in Bulgaria, where citizens are still demanding the resignations of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and General Prosecutor Ivan Geshev amid rising concerns about corruption.

On many fronts the words do not reflect reality. And I think the only way of changing this is by the people in the member states organizing themselves. That is why there is more talk about Bulgaria now. There are not many Bulgarian representatives trying to champion the cause of the protests and that adds to the difficulty of discussing this in Brussels. This is not the case with other countries. I feel that there is more of a political division there, that does not seem to be the case with Bulgaria.

I do agree with her that it is difficult to navigate the Bulgarian political scene, to which she responds: “I know little about Bulgaria, but I am prepared to learn. I have been educated by a lot of information and activity from Bulgarian citizens, for which I am grateful. I do not think you need to be an expert to see that there is a blind eye being turned, and the only reason is either that the Commission is incompetent and does not know what is going on, or they do know and are willing to let it go on, due to the connections with the European People’s Party (EPP). And my belief is that it is the second case: they are incompetent, but not that much. They do not really mind, because their guy [Bulgarian Prime Minister Borissov’s party GERB is a part of the EPP alliance – Ed.] is there. He was clever enough to avoid targeting minorities, but that is not to say that there is no discrimination. People have been telling me that their coalition partner [The United Patriots coalition, a nationalist, far-right grouping governing with GERB – Ed.] is really homophobic and racist. But he is clever enough not to be too much in their face in the way that Poland and Hungary are, he is a bit more polished, and the Commission is happy with that. They think he provides a certain amount of stability.”

Similarly to the other MEP I spoke with – Sophia in ’t Veld from the Renew Europe group – Daly talks in club dynamics and political configurations. She tells me that “whoever is not in the club” gets criticized, effectively dividing important European values such as the rule of law and freedom of speech along ideological lines. Daly sees European structures from a critical left-wing perspective, as neoliberal administrations who put certain freedoms – like those of the markets for example – before others, such as the primacy of law when it comes to human rights.

Clare Daly’s political career goes all the way back to her student years, when she campaigned for abortion rights. During her early years as a politician, she was a part of the Militant Tendency inside the Irish Labour party which ultimately led to her being expelled in the late 80s. Perhaps this past and current political ideology led Bulgarian pro-government media to run headlines accusing her of being a “communist” who supports Lukashenko in Belarus.

I hear that they called me a communist. Someone came in this morning and told me there was an article on how I was investigated for conflict of interest in the European Parliament, but the girl who sent it said: “Do not worry, you have to realize there is no independent media in Bulgaria.” I had a meeting the other day and someone told me one of the other MEPs had called me a communist, and my response was that I’ve never been a member of the Communist party, but I believe some of the people who are in power in Bulgaria right now originated there. I mostly laugh at that, it is to be expected. I would be happy to see Lukashenko go, I have no problem saying that; I just think that this is the job of the Belorussian people to get rid of him, not the EU, not America, nor Russia.

I ask Daly about her interactions with Bulgarian socialists, who (at least in theory, if not so much in reality) are currently in opposition in Bulgaria.

“When I first encountered a problem with Irish property in Bulgaria, after I got elected, I wrote to all Bulgarian MEPs, regardless of party or ideology. I did not care, I would work with anyone. Only two of them actually bothered to answer, which is just crazy. One of them referred me to a colleague in the area, from whom I have never heard anything back. Then, when hearing the debates on Bulgaria in the European Parliament, I was struck by the fact that there was not really anybody actually from Bulgaria speaking out too much, even the opposition. And I cannot even get my handle around this Bulgarian Socialist Party, who are they? I cannot make out the divide, and also I have heard that the allegations about corruption are just as bad for them, if not even worse. When I got this relentless, massive response from Bulgarians to my speech in the LIBE commission, it just showed me the state of the vacuum. If that is what people have to cling on, God helps them! It has been really educational for me.”

Daly was supposed to go to Bulgaria, but a member of her staff tested positive for COVID-19 just when she was supposed to travel. She laughs and says she does not expect a quiet visit when she makes it. I ask her why even care about Bulgaria with a pandemic going on, the world heading into economic uncertainty, the EU struggling with much larger issues such as data protection, migration, finance.

When you are an MEP, you represent the citizens of Europe. Now, I see far too much influence here from big business and arms lobbies. I see MEPs who are clearly here to ride the gravy train or care for their own areas, but they do not see themselves as legislating for Europe. Any elected position that I was ever in, I saw as a platform to organize from. I do not believe in politicians changing things, I believe that people change things and politicians respond. And my job is to use the platform that I am privileged to have to give people the confidence they need to change things for themselves.

According to the Irish MEP “the Eastern countries were taken into the European Union very quickly, in many ways the Western European establishment did this as a buffer against Russia. The wealthy in those countries, many of whom came from the old communist regimes benefitting from the sales of state assets, have quickly assumed a new role and took to all the perks of the European money. The citizens of these countries are a nice pool of cheap labor for the Western business and the West is happy to play along.”

Daly thinks it is great that Bulgarians are finally beginning to show themselves. “It is very interesting, looking at the politics of it here, because it is not the same left-right divide we are used to”, she states and I immediately ask what she means by that. “It seems to me that everyone is corrupt across the spectrum”, she retorts. For her the demand for the rule of law is only heard when the rules apply to the political adversary. She says this needs to change, that concrete rules are needed, which would apply equally to everyone.

I cannot help but point out to her that she is painting a pretty dark picture of the European Union. With the rise of populism and Euroscepticism, I ask her a question mulled by many all across Europe: Why do we even need the EU?

This is a question that a lot of Italian people were asking when they were left alone at the beginning of COVID-19; this is a question that a lot of Irish people asked during the financial crisis, when Irish single parents had to pay for Munich stockholders’ losses. That is one of the reasons behind Brexit: it is not that they are all just little English racists but a lot of the people who voted for Brexit were working class people, who had previously supported Labour and felt they were let down. The problem right now is that the European Union is built to advance the interests of business. We tell the story about coming together after the war – and that was it at the start – but it has now become a big business project for the advancement of the financial interests for different industries. The citizens are being left behind. 

“I would say we do not need a European Union in the way in which it is organized now, because if it keeps going this way – more people will leave. But I want to see unity in Europe (and beyond). We all have a mutual interest. Because you see this question more and more through the people who are elected in the EU parliament. And you see it in that appalling speech this morning, people listened to it, saying: I do not know who you are talking to, Mrs. Von der Leyen, because your little fairytale world is not our world.”

Whether one agrees with Daly’s sharp criticism or not, there is an undeniable gap between words and actions in Europe when it comes to addressing pressing issues. Politics and bureaucracy do seem to prevail, as we saw during the first months of the health crisis. My last question for her is whether speeches remain speeches after all, or can we expect, finally,  concrete actions.

“It is not all bleak”, she says after scoffing at the mention of Von der Leyen’s speech. “There will have to be some action. You look at the rule of law in Poland and Hungary, slowly as it is, they are getting into a place where screws have been turning on those issues. We see the recovery plan after COVID-19 – it was a bit better than before, but still not enough. If they try and impose austerity again and make the EU citizens foot the bill of recovery, I think there will be an explosion. But I think that they are wary as well. Change is slow, you know. But it does happen. Whatever happens in Bulgaria, nothing will be the same again. Either there will be a successful breakthrough or not, but you can build on that and lessons will be learned.”

Еveryone knows that people in Bulgaria are organizing. The fact that the mainstream political establishment and media are not putting it on their front pages like in Belarus is really about geopolitical considerations rather than anything else. I do not think people should be too demoralized. We have a saying in Ireland: If you fight, you might win; if you do not fight or make a stand, you have lost already. The protests will certainly resolve in some kind of change, the people in power are worried. Whether they sideline us, or degrade us, or make only small concessions – the lessons will be learned for the future. I think they must be feeling the heat.         

At the end of our conversation, Clare Daly says that it is hard to predict the outcome of the Bulgarian protests. “They are a long way from withholding any European funding, so maybe there will be warnings behind the scenes to not be so blatant when it comes to violations. But this idea of the European Union being a savior, coming down and sorting out things for you – they are just not going to do that. The institution only looks after itself. However, you can, by your organization, embarrass them into doing something. But the job of dealing with your government is yours.”

Cover photo: © Clare Daly

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MEP Sophia in ‘t Veld: Do not think that the EU doesn’t care about Bulgaria

Post Syndicated from Joanna Elmy original https://toest.bg/sophia-in-et-veld-interview-english/

Към статията на български >>

Sophia in ‘t Veld is a Member of the European Parliament from The Netherlands and the fourth most politically influential MEP in the area of Democracy and Home affairs. Her party, Democrats 66, is part of the Renew Europe Group, the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group Renew Europe describes itself as centrist and considers as its central issues sustainability, rule of law and economic growth. Other prominent European parties of the same group include French President Emmanuel Macron’s La République en Marche and Irish Fianna Fàil; the Bulgarian ethnic party Movement for Rights and Freedoms is also part of the same family. 

Sophia in ‘t Veld has been chairing the Rule of Law monitoring group in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) since 2018, and has worked on establishing an EU mechanism for the rule of law. During a recent hearing in LIBE, Mrs. In ‘t Veld questioned the Vice-president of the European Commission Vera Joùrova on Bulgaria media freedom and lack of accountability of the Prosecutor General. This prompted us to sit for an interview with her, during which we discussed in what way addressing ongoing protests in Bulgaria reveals key deficiencies in the way Europe functions politically, what can we expect from the new Report on the Rule of Law, and does Brussels actually know what is going on in the poorest and most corrupt member of the EU. 


You have been an MEP since 2004. Hungary and Poland joined the EU that same year, Bulgaria followed in 2007. Can you recall what were the expectations back then towards the former Eastern Bloc countries? 

We probably thought that economic reforms and preparing them for the internal market would automatically turn them into model democracies. I think those expectations were never realistic.

On the other hand, I also feel that currently there is a tendency to divide Europe into the enlightened, democratic West, and the Eastern countries which are prone to corruption and authoritarianism. That is not accurate. Authoritarianism is on the rise everywhere, look across the pond: Trump is behaving like many of the authoritarian leaders in Eastern Europe, and we also have political parties with the same corrupt authoritarian program as many Eastern countries, they just happen to not have the majority. So this East-West contrast is a false one.

How can we address this rise of authoritarianism at a European level in that case? 

You cannot make policies if you do not have shared values; it is a mistake to think that the EU is just an internal market and that values do not count. Just think of governance of the Internet, privacy, AI, freedom of speech, disinformation, police and justice cooperation – all these require a common set of values, rules and standards. We see with Poland, for example, that this is going horribly wrong, judges in the Netherlands and other countries are now refusing to extradite suspects to Poland because they do not trust the judiciary anymore.

If you do not have a properly functioning judiciary, free media, and transparency rules, then you cannot fight corruption; if you have corruption – the internal market cannot function properly. So it is all connected.

Click to view slideshow.

The question of values naturally leads us to Bulgaria. You are a member of the LIBE Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs which recently criticized Vice President Vera Jourova on the situation in Bulgaria, where people have been protesting for over two months now. How did Bulgaria become a topic of discussion? 

Bulgaria and Romania have always been on the radar screen because there are concerns of corruption, so that is nothing new. We have seen in recent months the massive street protests and the response by the authorities, which triggered concern. We have also seen a number of other concerns. There is the famous court ruling from 2009 saying that the independence and accountability of the General Prosecutor has to be revised. We hear there are concerns over the treatment of Roma people, hate speech, Bulgaria also refuses to ratify the Istanbul Convention.

Hungary and Poland have been in the spotlight for some time now, Malta and Slovakia for a couple of years, now Bulgaria. Later this month the Commission is going to issue – for the first time ever – a Report on the Rule of Law, which will be a cyclical annual event and the follow-up to the legislative initiative taken by the European parliament; I had the pleasure to be the rapporteur for that project.

We are always responding to a crisis in the case of Poland and Hungary, always too late, and a conflict ensues, leading to the polarization of the entire debate. Ultimately we do not achieve the aim of upholding democracy and the fundamental rule of law. So we want to eliminate the arguments behind which autocrats like Victor Orban hide by saying: “Oh, why us? Why are they singling out Hungary? This is anti-Eastern Europe.” That is why we proposed this annual cycle where all member states are assessed against the same criteria, including democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights.

The Parliament’s proposal was that the assessment be done by a panel of independent experts; the Commission has chosen to do the assessment itself. We have such a wide range of mechanisms, like the CVN, but too often the Commission relies on the input of the members of the governments. If you take the Justice ScoreBoard, Hungary always did fantastically well, so… From what I hear, this time the Commission has spoken to a range of actors (they say over 300) so we hope that we will get a more independent, complete and accurate image.

Is hoping good enough though? Because over the past years there have been many reports coming in by the Commission which have praised Bulgaria on improving, even though on the ground the situation was getting progressively worse. And now we find ourselves at a point of unprecedented protest. When the public hears that yet another report is coming, the prevailing question will be rather when and what concrete actions can we see? 

Firstly, I believe the report will be good, because countries where there are problems with corruption and authoritarianism (and often the two go together), cannot hide behind being singled out. But I also believe that it will trigger what I call “the Eurovision song contest” effect: the music is sh*t, but no one wants to be last. So they will complain, point the finger, but then secretly they will be pushed to do better, like with the European Semester. Does the Semester mean that all members fully meet the criteria? No, we know that. But at least it has a disciplining effect for them to go in the right direction.

Now, I understand the desire for action. But we do not have a cavalry to send charging in and to remove the government, it does not work this way. It is all very complex and has a lot to do with the way the European Union is constructed. The EU Commission is supposed to be independent, but in reality it remains shy in taking European member states head-on, because it is still the member states governments who nominate Commissioners. The Commission has to get used to this new role. You can also see that it is politicized and that the member states are resisting like mad, as we saw with the arguments this past summer over the budget. They left everything vague, as they always do, and now they are asking the European Parliament to fix it. And this is difficult, plus the pressure is immense.

For example, my government – the Dutch government – are keen on having this rule of law clause, but at the same time they find it awkward. Because if there is a Council summit, and then there is the official lunch, and Mr. Rutte sits next to Mr. Borissov and says: “Yo, Boyko, can you pass me the salt, please? And by the way, can you please not destroy the rule of law?” I always give this example, because it reflects the events in reality. You can compare it to the impeachment procedure in the United States: a lot of Republicans feel uncomfortable with President Trump and yet they were unable to vote according to their conscience because it is a closed club, this is how it works.

My initial proposal was to have an automatic trigger: if you have an annual report and it has multiple red flags, then there should be an automatic sanctions mechanism. This proposal did not make it. But ultimately, no matter how you organize it, it will always be a political decision to take action. We do not have strong central powers, it depends on the member states and they do not want to make Europe stronger. There are lots of Dutch people who are looking at countries like Bulgaria and saying: “Why isn’t Europe acting on this?” But then you clarify that for this to happen, they need to give Europe powers, and they immediately go on the defense. So there is your dilemma.

This is all pretty bleak, but I do think that despite Poland and Hungary being off-track, had they not been in the European Union, it would be much worse. There is a mitigating effect, being in the European Union and seeing that the institutions care. I can understand the Bulgarian people are feeling that no one takes interest in Bulgaria and I agree that the EU has been slow to act, but that is also because of the novelty of the situation. But do not think that there is no interest. We will be monitoring on a regular basis.

Click to view slideshow.

I want to walk you back a bit, you said that ultimately decisions for action are always political. Bulgaria fares much worse than Hungary or Poland in multiple rankings measuring democratic norms. Do you think that the silence on Sofia is due to the ruling party GERB being in the European People’s Party group? 

Clearly. The EPP is a big power machine and they tend to be very protective of their political family. The same goes for other families. My political family has had its share of awkward cousins, and some of them we have checked out at some point, but it remains difficult.

Mind it that when I say political, it is not necessarily partisan. If you look at the Council of the EU, even if the members all belong to different parties, it still behaves like one body. The dividing lines can be party-political, they can be North-South, they may be East-West, small-big. There are different factions and they all have this shared interest of not strengthening the hand of the European Union, they would like it to remain firmly inter-governmental because it is in their own interest. They think in a national – and often nationalist – way. But there is the dilemma that we mentioned: you cannot have an inter-governmental weak Europe and expect Europe to intervene in member states.

In Europe things move slowly, but when they move – they move. The issue of the rule of law has been rising on the agenda rapidly. This report will also strengthen the hand of the European Commission, because now if it intervenes, they will have better justification. Will it solve all problems? No. But is it an additional tool? Yes. It is not an ultimate solution, but it helps.

Another way to help and encourage, according to some, is cutting European funding. Do you think that is an effective tool as well? Should money be tied to rule of law? 

Yes. This is the conditionality of the budget, but this is not the ultimate solution. The idea came to the Council, because they had this problem called Victor Orban and they thought this was awkward because when they are sitting at the table, they want to avoid making decisions about each other. So they decided: “Oh, if we know we have budget conditionality, some anonymous official from the EU Commission can do the assessment, and tick all the boxes, and then we cut the funds”. Of course, that is an illusion because it can never be done by an anonymous Commission servant: it will always have to be a political decision. So they cannot escape their responsibility.

The impact of budget conditionality will not be the same for all member states. Take Austria, where there is an issue with rightwing tendencies and corruption. But Austria does not rely as much on EU funding, so how do you tackle that? It is not an equal instrument. Just a tool in a toolbox, but it will not solve the problem.

We are considering “smart conditionality” because we do not want autocrats like Victor Orban benefiting from EU funds, but we also do not want to penalize the people. “Smart conditionality” would mean that if there is an autocratic and corrupt regime, the Commission could take over the management of the funds, so that they would go directly to the beneficiaries, rather than through national authorities and that way we could keep a better eye on the money.

Sounds like a hard task. 

Well, nothing is easy [laughs].

I did want to ask about the “awkward cousins” in European political families. Are there mechanisms for sanctioning “rogue” members of a family who do not adhere to common values? Earlier this summer the Chairman of your political family Renew Europe Dacian Ciolos was fed false information by the Bulgarian Movement for Rights and Freedoms in relation to the protests, for example. Ciolos later admitted to being misled and apologized. How can this be addressed? 

In practice it is very difficult, but it happens occasionally. Orban is an example. We had the Austrian case as well. It all depends: if you are in power, it is more difficult. If you are not in government, it is quite easy. These power structures are strong.

So in this case do European MEPs have access to independent, verified information about events in member-states or do they have to rely on national politicians, who are often embroiled in national dynamics and will privilege them to European matters? 

Of course. As the chair of the monitoring group, for example, I would get a lot of emails from individual citizens, we also have their NGOs, we send questionnaires to the governments, we speak to them and invite them to hearings, we speak to the Council of Europe, the Venice Commission, GRECO: there are so many organizations, endless sources. Things cannot be held secret. It is 2020. You can follow events in real time.

It is not just knowing the facts, but how to interpret them. Very often what you see from a country like Bulgaria is that you get different MEPs, from different political groups, telling you different versions of events, all of which contradict each other. And I cannot judge what is true, but I do know one thing: in such situations, when there are such widely diverging interpretations of the facts and so much confusion – that in itself is a problem. It means people cannot trust the authorities, with little difference which version is true.

We stand with all people in Bulgaria – and all countries – who are clamoring for clean, transparent, and efficient government, dedicated to the people. And if you are Bulgarian, you are an EU citizen and you are entitled to that kind of government. We should not create the illusion that the European Union as an outside force can solve every single problem, but we will always firmly stand with those who advocate good government, transparency, fight against corruption and for the rule of law and fundamental rights.

Cover photo: © Stephanie leCocq / EPA

Тоест“ разчита единствено на финансовата подкрепа на читателите си.