Membership of Romania and Bulgaria: one more effort, please
(Archives B2) After some hesitation, the European Commission finally decided yesterday (16 May) to give itself a little extra time to assess whether, in fact, Romania and Bulgaria can become full members of the European club . " They should enter the Union on January 1, 2007 on condition that certain problems are settled » assured in Strasbourg the President of the European Commission, José-Manuel Barroso. The Commission therefore intends to prepare a new and final report at the beginning of October.
Several areas of concern
Until then, the two claimants from the Black Sea will have to frankly tackle a whole series of questions. In its assessment, the Commission notes that six areas remain of concern in Bulgaria, in particular the fight against corruption and mafias, the organization of the judicial system, the management of structural funds, food safety and the prevention of bovine spongiform encephalopathies ( mad cow disease). Four areas of concern for the Four areas remain to be improved in Romania: the fight against corruption, the collection of VAT, the fight against mad cow disease and the management of European agricultural funds.
Not perfection but a last ditch effort
“The progress we are asking of these countries is not unrealistic”, believes the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Olli Rehn. " We do not ask them for total perfection but for a final effort. ". But this moderate optimism did not really convince. This indecision even irritated several deputies, particularly the French, who were more in favor of the accession of Romania and Bulgaria.
The important thing: send a clear signal
« It's time to send a clear signal commented Pierre Moscovici, European Parliament rapporteur on Romania's accession. For Lionel Jospin's former Minister for European Affairs, " the advances are sufficient to be able to enter ". Comment approved by Alain Lamassoure (UMP): “ I don't quite see what it is possible to do in three months, when it comes to such painful reforms. We had to decide right away if it was 2008 or 2007, even if it meant putting safeguard clauses. It will be very difficult, at the last moment, to postpone the date of accession. »
A wolf's caution
The enlargement of Romania and Bulgaria is, in fact, scheduled for 1 January 2007, with the possibility for the Heads of State and Government to postpone this date by one year, based on a Commission report. As several MEPs have pointed out, the Commission did not have this level of requirement during the previous enlargement. But is it the effect of the "No" to the referendums, especially in the Netherlands, or of the evolution of public opinion in Europe, the Commission has become extremely cautious with the candidate countries.
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
supplemented version of an article published in Ouest-France, May 2006
