Parliament's committee on European affairs and oversight of EU funds has approved Bulgaria's outline positions on the EU's draft new rules for Europol and Eurojust. Bulgaria backs stronger agencies, but does not want them to interfere in national investigations and decisions.
Kaloyan Ivanov of Democratic Bulgaria abstained from the vote and gave a dissenting opinion.
Deputy interior minister Ventsislav Katinov presented the position on Europol, the EU's law enforcement cooperation agency. He said the agency should stay in a supporting role, with EU member states taking the final decisions.
Katinov said Bulgaria has consistently backed a bigger role for Europol as a hub for sharing and analysing information. It also backs closer work between the agency and private firms, non-EU countries, and other EU agencies and bodies. He said direct information sharing between Europol and telecom and financial service providers would be especially useful, as they hold data that is valuable for investigations.
The interior ministry still has doubts about some of the changes, and Katinov believes most other member states share them.
"The new powers planned for the agency, which would let it ask a member state to open an investigation on its territory, are unacceptable to us," the deputy minister said. Bulgaria also objects to Europol opening its own support offices in national units. Katinov said liaison bureaus with the agency already do this work successfully.
He added that the national interest comes first. In his view, no interference in Bulgarian investigations can be allowed, even when the matter falls within Europol's powers.
Ivanov said the position worries him, as does its heavy stress on protecting national powers. He fears these limits could let national institutions get in the way of European cooperation, including by delaying or refusing to share information.
Nikolay Danovski of the interior ministry added to the ministry's position. He said Europol should expand its capabilities, but member states should decide for themselves whether to start criminal prosecution. Danovski said all other member states take the same position. He said the working groups of the EU Council are fully agreed that Europol must keep its supporting role, and Bulgaria fully agrees with the rest.
Deputy justice minister Irena Borisova presented the position on Eurojust, the EU's criminal justice cooperation agency. She said Bulgaria supports the European Commission's aims in reviewing the agency's rules. The agency must work better and be better run, she said, and judicial cooperation in criminal cases must also be stronger.
Bulgaria also has objections. "The reform of Eurojust must keep the agency's main role, which is to support coordination and cooperation between national authorities," Borisova said. She was speaking about the fight against serious cross-border crime. She said the changes must not affect how independently cases are run, or the independence of national bodies that investigate and prosecute crimes.
Borisova welcomed the option for Eurojust to act on its own initiative and to spot earlier the cases where states need to react quickly and together. She said the scope and limits of these powers must be clearly defined.
National authorities must keep the responsibility to assess cases and decide what to do next under Bulgarian law, the deputy minister added.