The judicial system in Bulgaria produces very few actual resultsl, according to European Commission Vice President Jacques Barrot, who is in charge of Justice, Freedom and Security at the Commission, BTA reported.

This should not prevent Bulgaria from committing itself as soon as now to a justice system which will be against organized crime, Barrot said, addressing a conference on "Bulgaria in the EU: Two Years On, and the Road Ahead."

"Few cases come to their end. Firm sentences should be rendered against the criminals who compromise security and the image of your country," Barrot said. Both the corrupt and the corrupting should be sentenced. Reforms lie ahead, especially in the Criminal Procedure Code, and the Penal Code seems outdated, he said.

Organized crime is a phenomenon which will hinder the development of Bulgaria unless it is uprooted, Barrot said. According to him, the fight against corruption requires a permanent commitment from all politicians and from every individual citizen.

The Commissioner said he knows of people who want to bet on Bulgaria due to its excellent geostrategic position, but they hesitate due to corruption-related problems.

Barrot said he loves Bulgaria and says everything as its friend. Speaking at a news conference, Barrot said the European Commission would not like to see a safeguard clause invoked against Bulgaria in the field of justice and home affairs, and believes that support for the country is much more effective than sanctions. Concrete results are necessary, he said. The invocation of a safeguard clause remains a mechanism which can be implemented at a given moment, he said.

Barrot noted that judicial procedures should be less cumbersome, and that sometimes in Bulgaria serious cases continue for years before a verdict is rendered. Measures should be set in motion in connection with the forfeiture of criminal assets, he said.

The cooperation and verification mechanism with Bulgaria is to help the country fulfill its obligations as an EU member state, Barrot said. He did not say when the mechanism will end.

A report will be published in February, which will be more technical, unlike another report in the summer, which will be more political, Barrot said. The February report will recognize the progress made by Bulgaria. The idea is to have an objective report rather than point a finger at the country, he said.

Addressing the conference, Prosecutor General Boris Velchev said the scope of action of organized crime and the bearers of this criminal activity are not much of a secret and it is only a matter of time for these more famous persons to get the punishment they deserve.

Velchev said the problem of the Bulgarian judicial system is not the lack of guilty verdicts but the fact that guilty verdicts come slowly. A not guilty verdict in a high profile case can overshadow the effect of thousands of guilty verdicts in cases which are also important but lack that public nature, Velchev said.

Prosecution statistics of last year shows that not guilty verdicts constitute 5% of all verdicts, and 95 per cent of cases end in guilty verdicts.

According to Velchev, the cooperation and verification mechanism is useful and it offers an incentive for work.

EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said an internal roadmap is necessary, and month after month it should be reported what can be presented as a result. "We need all our will not to remain at the level of talk," Kuneva said. The feeling of impatience has reached the temperature which is necessary to start acting immediately. The judicial system, and Bulgaria as a whole, need leaders, she said.

The Chairman of the National Movement for Surge and Stability, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, met with Barrot to discuss the need for new national consensus for the continuation of reforms and overcoming of the challenges in the field of justice and home affairs as a condition for effective EU membership of Bulgaria.