The European Commission, in its 2026 Rule of Law Report country chapter on Bulgaria published on 17 July 2026, finds that Bulgaria has made no progress on key judicial and anti-corruption reforms, with concerns over prosecutorial autonomy, judicial independence, and the lack of a robust track record in high-level corruption cases. The report, a staff working document accompanying the annual Rule of Law Communication, assesses developments up to June 2026.
The document notes that a new ad hoc prosecutor for investigating the Prosecutor General was appointed on 22 December 2025, and Parliament adopted amendments on 29 May 2026 to improve the mechanism's functioning, including automatic judicial review for decisions to suspend or terminate investigations of the Prosecutor General. On the same date, Parliament adopted amendments introducing automatic judicial review for termination or suspension of investigations for corruption-related crimes. However, no progress has been made on reforming the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), whose mandate has expired since 3 October 2022, and the process to reform its composition has not been re-initiated. The Inspectorate to the Supreme Judicial Council no longer exercises full powers due to an expired mandate.
A new anti-corruption law re-established the Anti-Corruption Commission with a new appointment procedure for its leadership, but the report notes that the new lobbying transparency law exempts important categories of interest representatives from registration requirements. A new Director-General was appointed to the Bulgarian National Television after years of delay. Physical attacks against journalists decreased, but verbal attacks and online harassment increased.
The report concludes that Bulgaria has made limited progress on rule of law reforms, with key recommendations on judicial council reform, high-level corruption cases, and legislative quality remaining unaddressed. The Commission's annual Rule of Law Report, now in its seventh edition, monitors developments across all member states and includes country-specific recommendations. The findings will feed into the broader EU rule of law dialogue, with the European Parliament and Council expected to discuss the report in the coming months.