Translated material
New Year's ticket to Europe
Bulgaria and Romania will be admitted to the EU on January 1
Yesterday, politicians in Bucharest and Sofia breathed a sigh of relief - European Commissioner Olli Rehn released his report on the admission of both states to the European Union at a meeting of the European Parliament. The long-awaited event for Bulgaria and Romania will take place on January 1, 2007.There remains a danger that at first both countries will not be fully fledged members of the United Europe, which now includes 25 countries. The Bulgarians and Romanians have already been threatened with sanctions in case they stall the required reforms. They could be banned from exporting food products and have subsidies cut from the European budget. Both countries could also be excluded from EU policy-making in areas where they have problems with the timing of reforms. Recruits will be tested at least twice a year for at least three years.
Romania has yet to prove to the EU that it meets European standards in the areas of judicial reform, anti-corruption, agricultural transformation, food security, free competition and local administration. To ensure that Romania's anti-corruption efforts were noticed in Brussels, on the eve of Mr. Rehn's fateful report, 18 customs officials were arrested on bribery charges at Bucharest's Henri Coane International Airport in front of flashbulbs. The National Anti-Corruption Department has partially transferred cases against high-ranking officials to court, among those under investigation are former Prime Minister Adrian Năstase, ex-Minister of Industry Dan Ioan Popescu, Iasi County Prefect Vasile Prisecaru, three oil magnates, former secretaries of state, deputies, judges, bosses different calibers. These efforts were not in vain - Olli Rehn said that Romania has made more progress in the fight against corruption than Bulgaria.
Bucharest and Sofia began negotiations on joining the European family seven years ago. In April 2005, an agreement was signed on the accession of both countries to the EU, but France, Germany, Belgium and Denmark have not yet ratified it. They fear that the new EU expansion will hit them in the pocket, and Romanians will rush to Europe to earn money. The leader of the Romanian opposition Social Democratic Party, Mircea Geoana, also emphasizes the possible social costs of the country's European integration. Despite expected GDP growth of more than 7% and a doubling of foreign investment, the population's purchasing power is falling, with many Romanians unable to pay for utilities, which Mr. Geoana says will rise even more after joining the EU. “After gas prices rise by 20%, we are facing the most expensive winter in Europe,” he says. 68% of Romanians pin their hopes on a better life and even prosperity on the EU. But at the same time, many remember that when neighboring Hungary joined the EU in 2004, Hungarians began to travel to Romania for cheaper products.
Romanian political scientist, director of the influential newspaper Ziua (Day) Sorin Rosca Stanescu told Vremya Novostei: “Romania is not yet ready to withstand competition with the powerful industry and service sector of other EU countries. There is a danger that the country will become a market and supplier of low-paid labor. Romania will receive significant assistance from the EU - in the first years we are talking about 30 billion euros, but they still need to be able to absorb it. We must offer very good projects that meet European standards and reduce corruption. Otherwise, the money will fall into a “black hole”, and then there is a danger that the European Union will stop funding.” According to our interlocutor, joining the EU will help improve relations with Russia, since “Romanians will get rid of the complexes” that they have suffered for decades: “Being under the shield of NATO and inside the European Union, Romania will over time be able to prove that it is a true friend of Moscow” .