BRUSSELS, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Dutch diplomats are lobbying the European Union (EU) to impose sanctions on Bulgaria for its failure to tackle organized crime, Dutch paper NRC Handelsblad reported on Thursday.

    Quoting diplomatic sources, the paper said the Netherlands wants the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, to add measures of sanctions to its report on Bulgaria which will be published next week.

    The Netherlands suggests that the EU might reduce subsidies to Bulgaria, or exclude the country from the Schengen zone which has no border checks, the paper said.

    The report said Britain and France also want the European Commission to take a tough line on Bulgaria, which joined the EU at the beginning of last year.