<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Bulgaria and Romania signed the integration treaty in Luxemburg on Monday the 25^th of May together with the foreign ministers of the current members. There are lots of improvements set by the EU that the applicant countries have to take care of before they can join in the beginning of the year 2007. If the amendments would not prove to be adequate, the current member states can postpone the integration at least with a year. All the 25 current members have to ratify Bulgaria’s and Romania’s membership in order for them to be approved. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

Especially Romania has been criticized that it doesn’t full fill the membership criteria’s and that it has been lazy in improving its governance. The Finnish foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja who took part in the foreign minister meeting stated on Monday that everything is now up to Romania. “The EU criteria are not full filled yet. The main questions involve around developing the justice state”, said Mr. Tuomioja.

 

The European Commission has repeated often that the signing of the Accession Treaties does not mean that the work complete. Recently, the European Parliament agreed with the Commission that MEPs should also remain involved in the accession process of the two countries, particularly concerning the question of a possible postponement of membership. "The European Commission will seriously consider European Parliament's view before issuing any recommendations", Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said.

 

Bulgaria and Romania both overcame communism in 1989 and struggled with the transition to capitalism through the 1990s.The countries are poor by European standards with a per capita GDP of less than 3000 euro, which is below 40 percent of the EU average. Latvia, the poorest of the ten newest member states, has a GDP of 4800 euro while Germany has one of over 26,000 euro.

But the EU accession process, supported by the majority of both countries’ populations, is irreversible and has already made a huge difference, analysts say. Amongst other things, the countries have stabilised their economies and initiated many reforms of state and social institutions. The countries have shown important economic growth with Bulgaria's economy growing by an average of 5-6 per cent annually and Romania registering a record 8.3 per cent GDP growth in 2004.

 

Romania

 

Population: 22.4 million

Capital: Bucharest

Republic

Currency: LEU

Unemployment: 6.6%

 

According to the EU commission Romania is advancing towards its goal to become an EU member for example by emphasizing efforts in child’s rights issues, reducing discrimination and improving the minorities living conditions. There’s also been many constructive initiatives to improve the public governance and the justice system, but the gap between the legislation and its proper execution still remains problematic. Also the governance of the EU funding has raised doubt in the current member states.

 

The future challenge for Romania is to execute efficiently the reform, and to reduce bureaucracy and to develop the public governance more transparent. Organized crime and vast corruption is an everyday problem in Romania.

 

The commission thinks that Romania can be considered as a functioning market economy. Structural reform is though necessary that Romania could survive the market pressure and competition in the EU.    

The Prime Minister Adrian Nastase, who believes that the EU will eventually develop into the United States of Europe because of the pressure of the political market competition, sacked three of his government’s ministers last year for corruption claims. This was seen as a genuine determination to reform. 90% of the Romanian people voted for the EU membership and the adoption of the Euro. They hope that the EU will provide better living standards and what’s interesting is that according to Jan Pavel, a professor in Political Science at the University of Bucharest, the Romanians trust more in the European and international political bodies than their own.          

   

Bulgaria

 

Population: 7.9 million

Capital: Sofia

Republic

Currency: Lev (tied to Euro)

Unemployment: 19.4% (2001)

 

Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, raised huge TV screens around the city to cast the EU membership signing live from Luxemburg that holds the EU presidency currently. Children gathered on both sides of the bends of the river Tonava to form a flower cavalcade to symbolize the falling of the old borders.     

 

According to the EU commission Bulgaria is advancing towards its goal to become an EU member. There’s also been many constructive initiatives to improve the public governance and the justice system, but the gap between the legislation and its proper execution still remains problematic.

 

The future challenge for Bulgaria is to execute efficiently the reform, and to reduce bureaucracy and to develop the public governance more transparent. Organized crime and vast corruption is huge everyday problem in Bulgaria.

 

The commission thinks that Bulgaria can be considered as a functioning market economy. Structural reform is necessary that Bulgaria could survive the market pressure and competition in the EU even tough its economy is quite stable.

 

The Bulgarian Prime Minister and former King of Bulgaria Simeon Skakskoburggotsk took Bulgaria to the NATO and is determined to lead the nation to the EU. The Bulgarians feel that the nation is quite young even though its roots are ancient. Therefore it’s thought that the western connections will stabilize and develop the domestic conditions and better secure its sovergnty like in its neighbour’s case in Greece at the 1970’s.     

 

 

Consequences

 

If Bulgaria and Romania complete the implementation of their reforms and become respectively the EU’s second and third Balkan state in 2007, their accession will also give hope to the Western Balkans. Serbia, Bosnia and Macedonia are currently launching their EU accession processes while Croatia is set to open talks at a later point this year. Bulgaria and Romania started membership talks in 2000 and completed them in December 2004. However, the debate on whether or not the countries should join the EU still continues at the national level in some of the member states. In Germany, for example, the region of Bavaria has revolted against Bulgarian and Romanian membership, calling for better control of cheap labour. The Human Rights people have addressed concern over the integration process and criticized EU for endangering its credibility by adopting criminal run states into the EU. If the integration process will be success full EU stretches its borders to the Black Sea and to Moldova.