EU freezes Bulgarian aid
Published:Wednesday | July 23, 2008 | 5:29 PM
The European Commission has suspended European Union aid to Bulgaria worth hundreds of millions of euros because of concerns about corruption and organised crime.
Commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger said \"the EU has also withdrawn the right of two Bulgarian agencies to manage EU funds\".
Bulgaria needs a new penal code to ensure more effective justice, he added.
Romania was also criticised for shortcomings in its judiciary, including politicisation of cases.
The EU executive said that despite some efforts to fight corruption and organised crime, Bulgaria\'s institutions and procedures do not produce good results in practice.
About 500 million euros of aid to Bulgaria has been frozen by the commission.