The European Commission will permit [tag]Bulgaria[/tag] and [tag]Romania[/tag] to join the European Union next year, but the two countries have been warned they face losing millions of euros in membership benefits.
A progress report by the EU executive due for Tuesday will encourage the two Balkan nations to join the EU in January 2007, but it will propose the tough entry conditions on the newcomers.
The mixed message from Brussels reflects widespread public unease about further enlargement of the 25-nation bloc.
The conditional sanctions are meant to reassure critics of enlargement who say the countries are too poor, corrupt and weak to cope with EU membership, officials say.
Anti-government rallies in Hungary, as well as the break-up of a coalition government in Poland, have raised concerns over the admission of east European countries.
The commission may consider excluding Bulgaria and Romania from some EU policies unless they meet reform targets laid out in the report.
Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, and Olli Rehn, EU commissioner for enlargement, will visit Bulgaria and Romania on Tuesday and Wednesday to explain the EU recommendations.
The EU executive cites “a number of areas … where the commission will initiate appropriate measures to ensure the proper functioning of the EU, unless the countries take immediate corrective action”, the draft report said.
Those include corruption and organised crime, especially in the case of Bulgaria, weak courts and state administration and insufficient food safety standards.
Historical wave
Nevertheless, the two countries will receive a boost on entering the EU bloc. Both are expected to sustain their already impressive growth rates, bring in foreign investment and encourage tourism.
Traian Basescu, Romania’s president, said: “Only with this will the biggest historical wave of EU enlargement be completed – a direct consequence of the collapse of communism.”
By raising the possibility of withholding some membership benefits if the two countries are not up to scratch, Brussels is also seeking to smooth ratification in national parliaments that have not yet approved the accession treaty, notably Germany.
Rehn decided that delaying membership until 2008 would humiliate the countries and prompt an anti-EU backlash. It would also reduce Brussels’ leverage with Bucharest and Sofia.
EU diplomats say that after the entry of Bulgaria and Romania, the rate of expansion will slow.
Croatia is next in line.
Source: aljazeera.net
