Bulgaria has made considerable progress in the negotiations process and the results that have been achieved in the past months are unprecedented, EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said Monday during a meeting with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, Energy Minister Milko Kovachev and Bulgaria's chief negotiator with theEU Meglena Kouneva. Verheugen stressed that the European Commission has never supported the division of membership applicants into groups, adding that it would stick to the principle of accessing the countries by their individual achievements. Politically, it is absolutely clear that the process of the integration of all 12 applicants into the EU is irreversible, the EU Commissioner assured the Bulgarian officials. Passy voiced hope that the EU will soon set a date for Bulgaria's entry into the EU. He said that Bulgaria will continue its efforts to catch up with fronrunners for EU membership, such as Hungary, Slovenia and Poland, AP reported. Bulgaria, however, continues to disagree with the EU's request for the closure of the older units of Kozlodoui nuclear plant, Passy stressed. The EU wants all the reactors shut down by 2006 while Passy said there should be a phased closure up to 2010.