The European Union will allow Bulgaria’s accession at January 1, 2007, but will probably trigger the safeguard clause on Justice and Internal Affairs, says EU rapporteur for Bulgaria Geoffrey van Orden quoted by the Bulgarian daily Dnevnik.

The EU official’s statement comes one day after the Enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn has stated for Reuters that "Bulgaria is going to have crucial votes in parliament, which may have a positive impact on the country's ability to show concrete results in the fight against corruption."

The Bulgarian Interior minister Rumen Petkov accused the European experts’ peer review report on justice and home affairs as incomplete and erroneous, underscoring that the judiciary and not the internal affairs will bigger the clause.

In case of the clause enforcement, the Bulgarian Courts’ decisions might not be validated at the European level and the paper checks for Bulgarians travelling abroad will be maintained.

Olli Rehn promised today to present next Monday a personal provisional evaluation on the progresses recorded by Romania and Bulgaria, before the External Affairs Commission of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.