This article investigates whether EU accession can help Bulgaria and Romania
limit state capture and the undue influence of business actors on the policy
process. Particularly vulnerable to such influence, Bulgarian and Romanian
institutions are monitored through the EU's co-operation and verification
mechanism and the Commission and ECJ infringement procedures. We argue that,
under certain conditions, these tools can improve the quality of democracy in
both countries. The key conditions are the presence of domestic actors able to
use the EU and carry over procedural policy requirements from the acquis to
other policy-making. Analysing policy-making processes in the forestry sector,
we find NGOs able to use EU links and governments sensitive to naming and
shaming can result in a positive influence of EU rules on the policy process
and quality of democracy. This is true even in least likely cases, such as
non-acquis policy areas in Bulgaria and Romania