Last week the European Commission presented a report on how ready Bulgaria and Romania are to join the EU. Provided they meet all European rules and standards, the two countries should be admitted to the European Union in 2007. However, Europeans are highly critical of Bulgaria and Romania because corruption and crime are rampant there. So the date of their EU accession may be pushed back by another year.
Bulgaria and Romania are a unique case for the European Union. Never before have such poor countries aspired to membership. This became possible after the EU set a course for 'developing' Eastern Europe, which was less successful in economic terms, by admitting 10 countries from the region at once in 2004. Nevertheless, the accession of Sofia and Bucharest is treated with caution - it is not refused (since Bulgaria is seen by the EU as an ideal country for agricultural development, and Romania as one of the main sources of labor), but they are in no hurry to make a final decision.
In April 2005, an agreement was signed on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU. It stated that accession would take place only if the countries fulfilled all the set conditions by January 1, 2007.
From Bulgaria, they mainly demanded stricter laws against corruption and crime, improved living conditions for national minorities in the country, and economic growth. From Romania - reforms of the educational and judicial systems, improvement of social policy regarding national minorities, and a more responsible approach to environmental protection. In case of failure to meet these conditions, the European Commission reserved the right to postpone the accession of Romania and Bulgaria for another year.
Whether this threatens the candidate countries is hard to say for now. The general thrust of previous European Commission reports was that the applicants were doing poorly with their 'homework'. The current report is in the same vein. As an anonymous source among the commissioners told the BBC, corruption remains Romania's main scourge. Not long ago, the country's president, Traian Băsescu, admitted that it 'permeates the political, economic and social spheres of life'. And Bulgaria has still not reformed its judicial system.
However, there is still time until the spring of next year, when the exact date for the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union is to be announced. The only question is whether they will have enough of it to reach the high European standards. Otherwise, as the European press writes, using school vocabulary, 'they will be kept back a year'.