Last-minute deal keeps accession talks on track

By Jerome Glass

Date: 14/04/05

The European Parliament voted yesterday (13 April) to approve the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU, despite last-minute attempts to postpone the vote until November.

Requiring an absolute majority of 327 members, Bulgaria received 522 votes in favour, while 70 voted against and 69 abstained. In the case of Romania, 497 voted in favour, 93 against, with 71 abstentions.

On the eve of the ballot, the centre-right EPP-ED, the largest political group in the Parliament, as well as the Greens-EFA, decided by a very slim majority to propose a motion asking for a postponement of the vote until November. Officially, the EPP-ED's motive for postponement was a dispute between the Council and the Parliament over the role played by Parliament in deciding the amount of funding received by Romania and Bulgaria in the upcoming financial perspectives.

Jean-Claude Juncker, holding the presidency of the Council, engineered a last-minute deal to meet the Parliament's professed concerns. In dramatic scenes before the vote, the EPP-ED retracted its proposal. The approval paves the way for the signing of accession agreements between the EU and Romania and Bulgaria on 25 April.

The European Parliament on 13 April 2005 voted to approve the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU, despite last-minute attempts to postpone the vote until November. The motion to postpone the vote, which was rejected only by a narrow margin in the EPP-ED and the Greens-EFA groups resulted from a dispute between the Council and the Parliament over the role played by Parliament in deciding the amount of funding received by Romania and Bulgaria in the upcoming financial perspectives.