MEPs reserve the right to say ‘later’ to accession duo

Date: 21/04/05

Two MEPs give their views on the prospects of EU-hopefuls Romania and Bulgaria

Romania and Bulgaria should be ready to join the EU as planned in 2007 - but MEPs have a legitimate right to check their progress, says Pierre Moscovici

The accession of Bulgaria and Romania that will take place in January 2007 should not be seen as a new wave of enlargement but rather as the prolongation and the end of the enlargement that began in May 2004. Then, we welcomed ten new member states while waiting for Bulgaria and Romania to be ready. They are now.

As European Parliament rapporteur on Romania's entry bid, I underlined the progress made while pointing to issues that remained to be tackled in the field of justice and home affairs, on the fight against corruption and organised crime, border control, recognition and protection of minorities, in competition and state aid policy and in the field of environment, on implementation of legislation in all sectors and alignment of horizontal legislation.

Negotiations with Romania have been concluded and the European Commission gave a positive opinion on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in February. Under article 49 of the EU Treaty, it was then the Parliament's turn to give its assent to both Bulgaria and Romania and allow the signature of the joint accession treaty on 25 April. During the plenary session in Strasburg a large majority of MEPs (497) did so on 13 April.

For both countries, the prospect of accession has been the catalyst for wide-ranging legislative packages. For Romania especially -and for its newly-elected government - it has meant reforming the judiciary and the state administration, stepping up its fights against corruption, social exclusion and poverty, guaranteeing press freedom and freedom of speech, strengthening local and regional governance and implementing legislation on protection of children's rights, minorities' rights and the environment.

But both Romania and Bulgaria could be faced with the use of safeguard clauses, should the Council of Ministers decide that they were not respecting their commitments in the fields of competition and justice and home affairs, with Romania being subject to even more special clauses. These measures should not be seen as sanctions but rather as means to ensure that both countries are ready to integrate into the single market.

But with 20 months to go before accession, it is only legitimate for both the Commission and the Parliament to continue to monitor closely the implementation of legislative reforms in Romania and Bulgaria. That is why the Commission and the Parliament will both issue new reports in November 2005 assessing the situation in the two countries. This might not sound surprising, yet it is. Indeed, what has made this assent procedure so special this time has been the concern that the Parliament was being excluded from the monitoring process once it had given its assent and the demand of some MEPs to postpone the vote. In past enlargements, the involvement of the Parliament ended once the accession treaty had been signed.

But as the time between the signature of the treaty and the accession date has got longer with each enlargement, MEPs now feel that the Commission and the Council can no longer ask for a blank cheque. The Parliament has thus demanded to be fully associated with the monitoring process of the Commission and with the decision regarding the possible use of the safeguard clauses.

The Commission has recognised this new role for the Parliament in an exchange of letters between Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Parliament's President Josep Borrell and the Council has also approved it in a declaration by Luxembourg Deputy Foreign Minister Nicolas Schmit during the debate on 12 April.

The vote of the Parliament on the assent procedure during the April plenary session in Strasbourg was thus extremely meaningful in that it witnessed an extension of the monitoring power of the Parliament.

Let us hope it is respected.

• Socialist MEP Pierre Moscovici is the Parliament's rapporteur on Romania's application to join the EU. He is a former French European affairs minister.

Accession of Bulgaria could help to dilute calls for further political integration of the Union, hopes Geoffrey Van Orden

The European Parliament has given its assent by an overwhelming majority to the accession of Bulgaria to the EU. This was recognition of the enormous changes that have taken place in Bulgaria's political, economic and social systems in recent years.

Much still needs to be done. The process of modernisation does not stop with the signature of the accession treaty, which we hope will take place on 25 April.

The Bulgarian government, whatever its complexion after the elections on 25 June, will have to mobilise resources and demonstrate real political determination to bring about further reform, in particular of the judiciary and the police services. There must be public and international confidence in the the fight against corruption, organised crime and trafficking.

There are many other issues. The welfare of children needs particular attention. The integration of the Roma community remains a priority.

This is a matter of resources and political will on the part of government and motivation on the part of the Roma community to adapt to the norms of mainstream society.

The Bulgarian authorities, assisted by the international community, have introduced exceptional safety measures for the nuclear power plant at Kozloduy and responded positively to the requirements for closure of certain units. Some flexibility should now be shown in return, bearing in mind the contribution Bulgaria makes to regional energy needs.

The decision by the Bulgarians to re-launch the construction of the second nuclear power plant at Belene is most encouraging.

The accession treaty for Bulgaria and Romania differs from the treaties with the previous group of acceding countries in two important respects.

Firstly there are the so-called safeguard clauses which would allow accession to be delayed by up to a year in certain circumstances. It is unfortunate that Bulgaria has been caught in the wake of concerns which are more acute in relation to another accession state. Bulgaria should be judged on her own merits, in which case the invocation of safeguard clauses should be seen as a remote possibility. Nevertheless, they are a constant reminder of the need for further and intensive reform and practical implementation of legislation.

Reforms must be seen to have tangible effect, and it is only right that Parliament is fully involved in any consideration of application of the safeguard clauses.

Discussions in the lead-up to the Commission's report in the autumn will take on particular significance.

The second difference is that ratification of the EU constitution is concurrent with ratification of the accession treaty.

My deep concerns about this are mollified by my expectation that the constitution will fail and so blushes will be spared. It should be noted that under the treaty and as in previous treaties, the governments of member states may limit access to their labour markets, in this case until 2012.

Enlargement of the EU should be of benefit both to the new accession countries and to the existing member states.

I hope it may also help dilute the process of EU political integration, providing further opportunity to rethink the nature of the EU in order to get it back on track as a community of nations focused on a single market within an area of genuine freedom, rather than politically correct dirigisme.

Following its accession on 1 January 2007, a country such as Bulgaria, growing in prosperity, protective of her recovered freedom and with a strong transatlantic perspective may help shift the EU in a new direction. In the meantime, we very much look forward to the arrival in the Parliament of 18 observers from Bulgaria in the coming months.

• Geoffrey Van Orden is the European Parliament's rapporteur for Bulgaria. He is also vice-chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Parliament and British Conservative spokesman on defence and security policy.

Two MEPs give their views on the prospects of EU-hopefuls Romania and Bulgaria.