BELGIUM: Prospects of Bulgaria joining the European Union in 2007 rather than 2008 look better

Bulgaria's aim of joining the European Union next January is now realistic, Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev said on Tuesday after talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. The Commission is to recommend on Sept. 26 whether Bulgaria and Romania should join the 25-nation EU in January or be given one more year to complete preparations for membership. "I believe indeed it is a common goal both of the Commission and of the Bulgarian government to our country to join the union in January 2007 and i believe that is quite a realistic goal because immediately after the spring report of the commission our government took it very positively and constructively. We elaborated an action plan, it was consulted with the European Commission, supported by the Bulgarian parliament and is being implemented since then on a daily basis," Stanishev said. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the European Union's executive arm should propose this month letting Bulgaria join the bloc in 2007 rather than 2008, although with some conditions. But he called for more evidence that Bulgaria was taking action to fight corruption and organised crime. "What we really believe is the most important thing is progress in the fight against organised crime and also the clear evidence of the pro-active attitude against corruption. This is the most important and sensitive matter," Barroso said. Therefore the EU have established that a number of accompanying measures will be difficult to avoid. Barroso did not spell out the measures but the EU could restrict farm payments to a new member, as well as membership of common border policies and access for its food exports until it fully meets the bloc's standards. "Bulgaria has made enormous progress. We want to say this without a doubt. But in case the situation is not 100 percent, in case there is still more work to do, there is the possibility that we will say 'yes, you can become a member, because it is normal, but, for a while, there will be accompanying measures because there will be safeguard clauses," Barroso said in French. A Commission source had earlier told Reuters the EU executive was likely to recommend letting Bulgaria and Romania join next January rather than in 2008 but that it had coupled the faster pace with tough conditions for the bloc's second enlargement wave into ex-communist Europe. EU President Finland's Prime Minister, Matti Vanhanen, said after talks with his Romanian counterpart in Helsinki he was sure Bucharest had made clear progress towards EU entry in 2007. The two Balkan countries may be excluded initially from some EU policies in areas where they are not fully prepared for membership, such as the fight against corruption and organised crime, which is a worry especially in Bulgaria. "There has been progress but lets see, and that we will say on the 26th of December, if we believe that progress is enough and if we can also having some accompanying measures for the period after accession in case that the Commission and member states accept membership should start on the 1st January 2007," Barroso said in English. Vanhanen also promised to open the Finnish labour market to workers from Bulgaria and Romania once they join the EU, the first such declaration from a member state. The issue has became sensitive in Britain since official figures last month showed hundreds of thousands of workers from Poland and other new members have flooded the British labour market since the bloc's eastward enlargement in 2004. Under the accession treaty, which the Black Sea neighbours signed last year, either country could be delayed by a year from 2007 if it is deemed not ready to join, or excluded for some time from some EU policies for which it was unprepared. The Financial Times said on Tuesday that Bulgaria will come under tougher EU scrutiny for its shortcomings in handling fraud and organised crime and could face financial sanctions. But Stanishev said he was committed to sustaining reforms in his country adding sanctions would not make it any easier. "What is important for me, indeed, is to find the proper mechanism of continuation of reforms. This is far more important than some form of sanctions which exist against any other country of the European Union I would like to stress, don't forget about it," Stanishev said. The Commission source said the amount of EU aid is fixed by the accession treaty and it is difficult to strip countries. But aid could be withheld if the countries' payments agencies to distribute farm subsidies are deemed not ready. Applying safeguards could mean, for example, that court rulings of a new member state are not fully valid in the bloc, or the country is excluded from the EU's common border policy. In May, the Commission postponed its recommendation on Bulgaria and Romania to exert pressure on them for more reforms. Stanishev, who presented an updated action plan for EU membership to the Commission, vowed that constitutional changes sought by Rehn to help Bulgaria better fight corruption and organised crime would be ready soon. He told Reuters reporters in an off camera interview: "We will be ready to vote (the amendments) in parliament in a matter of weeks".

ITN Source | September 6, 2006

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