So Why Don’t We Just Call the Whole Rule of Law Thing Off, Then? On Tomatoes, Tomahtoes, and Bulgaria’s Cooperation and Verification Mechanism

Abstract

In the latest 2019 report on Bulgaria under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), the European Commission concluded that Bulgaria had shown steady progress in all six benchmarks, which, in turn, justified the termination of this mechanism. However, the Commission’s conclusions seem to stand in stark contrast to the opinions of civil society members and scholars who study Bulgaria’s rule of law. This paper seeks to identify the reasons which can explain this mismatch, including the political dealings between Bulgaria’s government and the European People’s Party. The question is relevant not only in light of Bulgaria’s rule of law, but also in light of the new rule of law mechanism which the Commission plans to implement on a pan-EU scale because dual standards in enforcing EU values can compromise this new initiative. The article concludes that the response by the European Parliament and Council to the Commission’s proposal to end the CVM for Bulgaria is a litmus test for the rule of law on an EU level.