Euro Parliament gives green light to Romania and Bulgaria amid EU institutional debates

(Initially published in http://www.romania-report.ro/ - April 13, 2005)

The European Parliament has given the green light for the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into the EU. On the accession of Romania, MEPs voted by 497 in favour, 93 against and 71 abstentions. On Bulgaria, there were 522 votes in favour, 70 against and 69 abstentions.

At the very last moment Parliament forced the Council into restoring its budgetary rights as regards the funding to be allocated to Romania and Bulgaria until 2009, which sums had been laid down in the Accession Treaty.

Earlier, Parliament had already exacted the right to push for postponement of accession by a year should either country fail to take the necessary measures still outstanding before they can become member. This was especially important to Parliament, as the actual entry of both countries is scheduled to be in 20 months' time.

Formally, Parliament has no longer a role to play in the run-up to the accession of the two countries now that it has given its assent. However, MEPs want to be able to continue to influence the course of events in both countries until the actual accessions take place, scheduled for 2007.

Therefore, they want to be involved in a new mechanism which has been introduced in the Accession Treaty for Bulgaria and Romania and by which the Council may decide on a proposal from the Commission to postpone accession if the two countries fail to take measures required in time. And before the vote, Parliament did indeed get an assurance in writing from the Commission that it would "fully associate (it) to any possible decision to postpone accession", which was confirmed by the Council.

In a political resolution accompanying the assent for Bulgaria, Parliament said that the country had made excellent progress so far, but noted a number of steps its government still needs to take. It criticised the failure of the Bulgarian parliament to adopt new penal codes for fighting corruption more effectively and also called for greater efforts to combat organised crime. MEPs warmly welcomed the recent launch of the 'Decade of Roma Inclusion', and measures to improve housing in city areas mainly populated by Roma but also pointed out that more needs to be done to end segregation of Roma children in schools, reduce high unemployment rates and provide better health care.

MEPs welcomed Bulgaria's economic performance and were pleased that the government intends to re-run the auction for Bulgartabac subsidiaries. They worried, however, that due to the agreement on the closure of the Kozloduy nuclear plant, there was a risk of energy blackouts in the entire region. They therefore urged the EU Council of Ministers to be more flexible.

In a similar resolution on Romania, MEPs praised reforms introduced in Romania and further commitments made by the newly installed government, such as on increasing freedom of the press, improvements in schools and participation in the 'Decade of Roma Inclusion', but also drew attention to serious shortcomings which need to be addressed. These include the need for effective implementation of administrative and judicial reforms, the need to continue the fight against corruption, especially at a high level, the eradication of all violence and discrimination against minority groups, improving the treatment of psychiatric patients, more efficient border controls, correct application of state aid laws and strengthening environment protection.

European Parliament release