ROMANIA AND BULGARIA: Political leaders in Romania and Bulgaria insisted yesterday that their countries would be ready to join the European Union in January, and vowed to resolve remaining areas of concern before Brussels issues its final decision on accession in October.
Romanian officials noted the absence of any outstanding "red flag" issues in the vital areas of corruption and law enforcement. They vowed to create agencies capable of disbursing EU funds and to push through reforms in tax collection, food and agriculture. "None of the sectors which could have triggered the postponement clause are any longer worrying for the EU Commission," Romanian president Traian Basescu told The Irish Times, referring to Brussels' threat to put back accession to 2008.
"The remaining fields which the commission is still concerned about are rather technical ones, requiring a few months' strenuous work, which we proved we are capable of sustaining.
"Romania must also consolidate and build on the progress made in the fight against high-level corruption and ensure that the progress becomes irreversible."
Romanian prime minister Calin Tariceanu called the EU report "correct and positive", and claimed that Romania and Bulgaria were being "monitored even more strictly than the other 10 countries" that joined the bloc in 2004.
"The European Commission sends us two main messages: Romania's entry on January 1st, 2007, is fully attainable. Secondly, Romania has made major progress over the last seven months but must keep the pace of reforms and the direction. The safeguard clauses for corruption and border controls have been removed," Mr Tariceanu said.
Bulgaria, which once led its Balkan neighbour in the race to be ready for 2007, is under great pressure to fight organised crime, corruption, money-laundering and to prevent the embezzlement of EU funds, while also completing administrative reform.
"We have 227 days left. We can do it," said Meglena Kuneva, Bulgaria's EU affairs minister, as her compatriots absorbed the task facing their government.
"The commission's stance means Sofia is getting another extension to deliver results," said Bulgarian analyst Rumiana Kolarova. "But the threat of an accession delay until 2008 remains. If the government keeps its pace of reforms, I do not expect serious progress by October."
Krassen Stanchev, of Sofia's Institute for Market Economics, agreed. "This means that Bulgaria has not met the political criteria, and this [ report] is important to mobilise political will and address the commission's concerns.
"The commission will want to see an improved record on fighting organised crime rather than be shown cases that are only in the pipeline."