The columnist Bronwen Maddox writes that the EU report "is remarkable for its deliberate mildness." That the EU must deal with these concerns is evidence that Romania and Bulgaria were admitted to the Union "before they were ready in any ordinary sense of the word. ... Romania is the more cheery case, if you reckon that mere corruption is preferable to Bulgaria's ceaseless saga of murders of prominent figures. ... But Bulgaria is the shocker: more than 155 contract killings in public since 2000, according to interior ministry figures. To be rich, to be in politics, to be president of the Lokomotiv Plovdiv football club - all these have been repeatedly shown to be lethal. The Commission expresses 'great concern' over the killing of local politicians this year, and the lack of prosecution or conviction. Indeed. In muting its own criticism, it has done Bulgaria, and the EU, no favours". (28/06/2007)

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"The Commission has opted not to impose sanctions immediately and to continue offering help for a certain period of time. It is being criticised for this decision. The EU must maintain its credibility and impose sanctions on Bulgaria and Romania, some say. But as understandable as their anger may be, the critics are taking an oversimplified view of the situation. How will the citizens of Romania and Bulgaria feel if their two states are punished so soon after joining?" The newspaper argues that sanctions are the wrong approach: "There would be cuts in funding and court verdicts would go unrecognised. Up to now the rule has always been: once a member, always a member. It would be better to have the option of expulsing a state entirely if it fails to adhere to the rules. That way EU membership could continue to exert its magic attraction even after a country joins." (28/06/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Europe, » Romania, » Bulgaria

The Romanian government can breathe a sigh of relief after reading the European Commission's progress report, because although it contains criticism, the consequences are to be postponed to next year, notes Adrian Ursu. He adds that this does not bode well for the country's battle against corruption: "The fact that the next evaluation is almost a year away is an invitation to our Romanian politicians to take it easy.... It would be a good thing if in addition to the Brussels reports we published our own report on the country's progress - without all the political pathos." (28/06/2007)

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In view of the European Commission's progress report, Svetoslav Tersiev bemoans the lack of pressure on the Bulgarian government, saying it has dwindled ever since the country's accession. "Bulgaria's chronic problem is that it follows the recommendations from Brussels on paper only. It adopts more and more laws but doesn't reflect on how to apply them to the criminals who are walking the streets like models in a fashion show - just as they do in the higher spheres of government... Another 'issue' is the expansion of the Schengen zone. To become a candidate for this, Bulgaria must first prove it is able to adhere to fundamental laws. Before Brussels gives the go-ahead here it should remember - having learned from its experience with EU accession - that it can exert more pressure before it allows a candidate to join." (28/06/2007)

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"Despite the shortcomings in judicial reforms and the battle against corruption, Brussels lacked the nerve to impose the sanctions that had been foreseen for such cases," Doris Kraus comments critically. "The EU's justification is that it's too early to call Romania and Bulgaria to account. But the accession of the two states came too early, too. The safeguard clauses that provided for punitive measures such as the suspension of judicial cooperation were intended to compensate for the lack of readiness for EU membership. Brussels' decision not to employ these instruments will trigger the anger of certain EU member states... But worst of all is that Brussels is giving the EU a further shove in the direction of complete loss of credibility. Its behaviour shows once more that nothing is fixed at the EU level, and everything is open to weak compromises." (28/06/2007)

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Spanish writer Isaac Rosa investigates his countrymen's relationship to money in the light of numerous corruption scandals. "The question of illicit enrichment is pertinent in a society that, like ours, has turned money into a supreme value, promoting idealized forms of consumption which only the upper classes can enjoy. We [collectively] salute the increasing number of Spanish people who appear on the Forbes list of multimillionaires, a surprising motive for national pride. ... When we speak of getting rich in a proper way, we have to ask ourselves what we hear by 'proper'. Is legality the only limit? We certainly refuse self-enrichment based on fraud, corruption, theft or tax evasion. But must we accept it when it comes from stock market or real estate speculation, or from the takeover of companies which are immediately liquidated? ... Where can we draw the line between the acceptable and unacceptable?" (28/06/2007)

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All available articles from » Isaac Rosa

Following the record-breaking sale of a Damien Hirst sculpture last week, Charlotte Higgens, the Guardian's art correspondent, reflects on the increasing power of money in contemporary art. "There are plenty who applaud this buoyancy. It means artists are increasingly able to make a decent living. ... But there is undeniably a wealth divide, which cuts several ways: between collectors and artists; between artists who can command great prices and those who are less commercially successful; and, perhaps most damagingly for ordinary art-lovers, between wealthy individuals and public institutions. ... The real problem in all this, however, is that state museums are increasingly priced out of the market. They simply cannot afford to compete. ... They must have the capacity to buy if they are to continue the success of the past decade". (28/06/2007)

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All available articles from » Charlotte Higgins

Walter Veltroni, the mayor of Rome, launched his campaign for the leadership of the Democratic Party, a new centre-left movement, on June 27th. "Veltroni accomplished a difficult task yesterday in Lingotto", writes columnist Barbara Spinelli. "In submitting his candidature for the head of the Democratic Party, he has succeeded in presenting himself as a new man, and at the same time, as a man who doesn't follow trends, who doesn't give out unwarranted praise, who doesn't relish criticising the governor. A new man, he is not without doubts: for years he has distanced himself from internal politics and trends. ... [He is] a new personality, like Sarkozy and Merkel, Zapatero and Brown, yet Veltroni doesn't appear to be the type of politician to criticise his predecessors. He didn't kill his father, or his brother. He was very clear when he said that the first duty of the party would be to firmly, and in a coherent manner, support the government". (28/06/2007)

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All available articles from » Barbara Spinelli

Anthony Coughlan, a professor emeritus of social policy at Trinity College (Dublin), argues that the new EU treaty introduces more radical change than is widely believed. The EU treaty "would establish the constitutional form of a supranational state for the first time, making this new union separate from and superior to its 27 member states. This would make the EU just like the United States of America ... We would all be made real citizens of this new EU state rather than notional or honorary European 'citizens' as at present; for one can only be a citizen of a state. ... The newly established union would then possess all the key features of a fully developed state, except the power to impose taxes and to take its constituent member states to war against their will. The Euro-integrationists hope it will acquire these remaining features in time. ... People may welcome or decry these proposed constitutional changes, but clearly they call to be widely analysed and discussed before we vote on them". (28/06/2007)

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Following the announcement by Austrian Defence Minister Nobert Darabos and Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer (both SPÖ) that the government is reducing the number of Eurofighter aircrafts it had ordered for Austria's armed forces, Michael Völker examines the state of Austria's grand coalition between the Austrian Socialist Party (SPÖ) and the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and their understanding of democracy. The announcement was made without prior consultation of the coalition partners (the ÖVP) and without waiting for the results of a parliamentary inquiry into the matter. "Darabos and Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer are conducting a scorched earth policy with this approach: by not involving the ÖVP in their decision and confronting them with a fait accompli as if to say 'if you don't like it, that's just too bad', they stand little chance of gaining the ÖVP's support. For its part, the ÖVP is only too happy to see this because it diminishes the SPÖ's victory and proves that nothing works when the two parties get together... There's only one conclusion to be drawn: the ÖVP says no to this government and no to this coalition. And Gusenbauer is not in a position to lead this government. It's a disaster." (28/06/2007)

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Representatives from the editorial boards of the French written press came together, on June 27th, to discuss journalistic independence. The concentration of the media in the hands of industrialists close to political power is worrying. Laurent Joffrin, the director of the daily, laments, "the President [Nicolas Sarkozy] has always cultivated, with success, a large network of friends in the media, notably among the owners of the principal groups ... They naturally have business with the state from time to time. As a precaution, they are tempted to anticipate the presumed wishes of the prince, without him having to raise an eyebrow. To resist this political magnet, there is only one solution, the defence of journalism by journalists. The organisation of editorial boards, charters of independence, the right to veto the nomination of editors-in-chief: it is urgent to promote the use of these democratic methods". (28/06/2007)

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After the media started talking about the "Polish concentration camp Auschwitz" in October 2004, the Polish government has taken steps to have the official name "Auschwitz Concentration Camp" changed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. Now the UN institution has decided to change the name to "Former Nazi German Concentration Camp Auschwitz-Birkenau". Igor Janke comments: "This small victory shows that since we started talking about our past calmly, resolutely and rationally the world supports our views. We have had both good and bad experiences with this issue. The remarks made by Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who on the day before the EU talks in Brussels began reminded us of the millions of Poles who were murdered during the Second World War, certainly didn't help matters." (28/06/2007)

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All available articles from » Igor Janke

"It is often said that Parisians are rude, especially when their morals are compared with those, almost overly correct, which reign in Switzerland". For Sylvain Besson, a Swiss correspondent in Paris, this reputation isn't undeserved. "After nearly 20 months in the French capital, I can attest: life in Paris exercises a near mechanical pressure that erodes good manners. ... I've come to understand the proverbial dry tone used by certain waiters in the bars and restaurants. To be impolite ('go speak to my colleague', 'I don't serve these tables'), is to give yourself importance, and it's a type of natural reaction to excessive stress. All the imperfections of daily life - the waiting lines at the post office, those who try to steal your taxi, the bureaucrats who speak to you from on high - push in the same direction". (28/06/2007)

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Balázs Pócs makes fun of the YouTube films with which the European Commission is hoping to reach a younger audience: "Who wants to listen for a whole ten minutes to a report about the advantages of the Galileo navigation system, which is to go into operation later and at a higher price than originally planned? The piece on climate change is also uninspiring: in a mock report that is supposed to be true-to-life, a friendly man recommends using public transport to get to work... The EU's films are reminiscent of the propaganda films that cinemagoers were forced to sit through under socialism. The young people of today can hardly imagine doing this. It's nice of the EU to unintentionally offer us a journey into the past." (28/06/2007)

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All available articles from » Balázs Pócs