Magazine / Society / Romania and Bulgaria / Article | 12/02/2007

Romania and Bulgaria before EU Accession

Politically, economically, and culturally, Romania and Bulgaria are unquestionably European. Yet the two nations continue to encounter stumbling blocks to their EU accession.

On 16 May 2005, when the European Commission presented its monitoring reports on the state of preparedness for EU membership of Romania and Bulgaria, it adhered to its prevailing policy. The reports neither recommended the two countries' accession to the European Union (EU) on 1 January 2007 nor did they reject it.[1] They rather provided a detailed list of plusses and minuses in the preparation process, promised further political and financial support, and announced a new review in October 2006. By that time, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn would not get around to taking a clear stand.

A long path to EU membership: Romania and Bulgaria originally applied for membership in 1995.
Photo: Photocase.com

In contrast to the question of Turkey's possible membership, the accession of both countries was and is still in theory without controversy. Romania and Bulgaria are part of the European continent, have a long European history and are linked closely to Europe in terms of their politics, economy and culture. Nevertheless, the accession process is somewhat more difficult than that of the other countries of Central and Eastern Europe which have already joined the EU. Because of political and economic deficiencies, both countries are permanently monitored by the EU and are consistently threatened with the revocation of the promise of accession. The European Parliament's resolution adopted in February 2004 issued a statement regarding Romania in unusually straight-forward words: "The European Parliament deplores that despite progress in a number of areas, Romania currently faces serious difficulties fulfilling the requirements of the political Copenhagen-criteria [and] states that finalising accession negotiations at the end of 2004 and becoming a member in 2007 is impossible […]."[2] Based on the Commission's report published in the autumn of 2003 concerning Romania's progress towards accession [3], the document lists shortcomings in the country's political, administrative and economic system. In this context, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, the person whom the European Parliament had charged with reporting on Romania, spoke of conscious efforts of deception by the Romanian authorities.

Romania and Bulgaria responded to the Europeanisation pressure by assuring that they would make the demanded reforms their top priority. This paper sheds light on the difficult road to EU membership for both countries and examines the political and economic problems that might jeopardise EU accession on 1 January 2007.[4]

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Further articles on the subject » EU Enlargement / Neighbourhood Policy, » EU Policy, » South East Europe, » Romania, » Bulgaria
More from the press review on the subject » EU Enlargement / Neighbourhood Policy, » EU Policy, » South East Europe, » Romania, » Bulgaria