Geoffrey van Orden, rapporteur for Bulgaria to the European Parliament, has sent to the line legislative panel his draft report before the final vote of EU lawmakers on the country's entry in the Union scheduled for January 1 next year. The document is based on the recent release of the monitoring report of the European Commission and contains largely positive assessments on progress made in critical areas such as justice and home affairs and crime and corruption fighting in particular. However, there are also notes of criticism that the country still has to make significant efforts in the said areas in order to bridge the gap with incumbent member states. Geoffrey van Orden is pushing again for a more flexible approach in regard to the end-2006 deadline for decommissioning of the old units 3 and 4 of the nuclear plant in Kozloduy. The text included in his draft report emphasises that the EU Council should be more flexible in regard to a possible extension of the deadline by several months provided that no compromises are made with safety standards. He notes that the power units are of great importance for maintaining the energy balance in the Balkans. His view is supported by several other lawmakers but is unlikely to win big popularity. Geoffrey van Orden has included similar recommendations in his spring report but has failed to get support from the majority of the EU lawmakers. The new draft is expected to pass final voting at a plenary session of the European Parliament at the end of this month.