Post by Bozur on Apr 13, 2005 18:10:47 GMT -5
Romanian, Bulgarian entry may be delayed, EU warns
EPA
A Romanian peasant farmer tills his land in the traditional way using a horse-drawn plow near the village of Bujoreni, 70 kilometers south of the capital Bucharest, yesterday.
By Jan Sliva - The Associated Press
STRASBOURG - The European Union’s enlargement chief yesterday warned Romania and Bulgaria that their accession to the EU, planned for 2007, may be postponed by up to a year if they fail to meet all conditions necessary for joining the 25-nation bloc.
“Romania and Bulgaria must deliver on key reforms,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said in his speech to the European Parliament.
“We won’t hesitate to use safeguard clauses. The agreement must be conditional. If they fall too far behind, accession may be delayed.”
Today, the European Parliament is expected to vote overwhelmingly in favor of Romania’s and Bulgaria’s accession.
But the EU is not giving Sofia and Bucharest an absolute guarantee they will join in 2007. Their entry treaties contain “super safeguard clauses” that may trigger a one-year delay if certain conditions are not met.
Rehn said judiciary reform and tackling organized crime was a top priority for Bulgaria.
Romania, which the EU declared to be a market economy only last June, must also boost justice and law enforcement, as well as secure rights for the Roma minority.
It must also increase environmental protection, accelerate antitrust rules and shed its history of state aid, epitomized by an oversized steel sector.
“It is now time to give Romania the benefit of doubt,” Rehn said.
Bulgaria and Romania lag behind even the poorest current EU members. Bulgaria’s per capita GDP is only 2,504 euros, with the average monthly wage around 164 euros. In Romania, per capita GDP is 2,197 euros, while the average monthly wage is 265 euros. In the richest EU countries, per capita GDP is well over 20,000 euros.
“The clock is ticking every day from now on,” Rehn said. “Both countries will be subject to very close monitoring by the European Commission, Parliament and Council.
“If the Commission judges [that] either Bulgaria or Romania were manifestly ill-prepared for membership it would not hesitate to recommend the use of remedies, including the one which allows us to postpone the accession by one year.”
Although the majority of European Parliament lawmakers will vote in favor of the latest European Union expansion, “there are serious concerns about Romania’s ability to join the EU by 2007,” Robert Fitzhenry, spokesman for the European People’s Party, the largest political group in the Parliament, told the AP.
EU foreign ministers and their Bulgarian and Romanian counterparts are to sign the accession treaties on April 25, giving their parliaments 20 months to ratify the entry of two newcomers.
www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=55132
EPA
A Romanian peasant farmer tills his land in the traditional way using a horse-drawn plow near the village of Bujoreni, 70 kilometers south of the capital Bucharest, yesterday.
By Jan Sliva - The Associated Press
STRASBOURG - The European Union’s enlargement chief yesterday warned Romania and Bulgaria that their accession to the EU, planned for 2007, may be postponed by up to a year if they fail to meet all conditions necessary for joining the 25-nation bloc.
“Romania and Bulgaria must deliver on key reforms,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said in his speech to the European Parliament.
“We won’t hesitate to use safeguard clauses. The agreement must be conditional. If they fall too far behind, accession may be delayed.”
Today, the European Parliament is expected to vote overwhelmingly in favor of Romania’s and Bulgaria’s accession.
But the EU is not giving Sofia and Bucharest an absolute guarantee they will join in 2007. Their entry treaties contain “super safeguard clauses” that may trigger a one-year delay if certain conditions are not met.
Rehn said judiciary reform and tackling organized crime was a top priority for Bulgaria.
Romania, which the EU declared to be a market economy only last June, must also boost justice and law enforcement, as well as secure rights for the Roma minority.
It must also increase environmental protection, accelerate antitrust rules and shed its history of state aid, epitomized by an oversized steel sector.
“It is now time to give Romania the benefit of doubt,” Rehn said.
Bulgaria and Romania lag behind even the poorest current EU members. Bulgaria’s per capita GDP is only 2,504 euros, with the average monthly wage around 164 euros. In Romania, per capita GDP is 2,197 euros, while the average monthly wage is 265 euros. In the richest EU countries, per capita GDP is well over 20,000 euros.
“The clock is ticking every day from now on,” Rehn said. “Both countries will be subject to very close monitoring by the European Commission, Parliament and Council.
“If the Commission judges [that] either Bulgaria or Romania were manifestly ill-prepared for membership it would not hesitate to recommend the use of remedies, including the one which allows us to postpone the accession by one year.”
Although the majority of European Parliament lawmakers will vote in favor of the latest European Union expansion, “there are serious concerns about Romania’s ability to join the EU by 2007,” Robert Fitzhenry, spokesman for the European People’s Party, the largest political group in the Parliament, told the AP.
EU foreign ministers and their Bulgarian and Romanian counterparts are to sign the accession treaties on April 25, giving their parliaments 20 months to ratify the entry of two newcomers.
www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=55132