Articles in category Politics

 The Lithuanian parliament on Thursday approved pacts granting Bulgaria and Romania European Union membership, according to local news reports reaching here.

So far, 12 of the 25 EU member countries have passed the documents and the remainder are expected to give the green light to them by the end of the year.

Bulgaria and Romania signed the accession pacts on April 25, 2005, to join EU on the scheduled date of Jan. 1, 2007.

Yet the pacts also contain an item, under which the two would-be members are required to meet a commitment to implement reforms within the given period, or their accession will be postponed by one year.

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Polish Senate gave its consent for the ratification of Bulgaria and Romania’s Accession Treaty, RIA Novosti reports. The decision was supported by 426 MPs, one voted “against” and one abstained.
“We eagerly expect the day when Bulgaria and Romania will join the EU”, Chair of parliamentary European Union Affairs Committee Karol Karski stated. He pointed out there were no reasons to postpone the membership of the two countries.

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Portugal's parliament approved late on Wednesday Bulgaria and Romania's EU accession treaty.

216 MPs supported the treaty, 12 MPs from the Portuguese Communist Party and another two from the Green party abstained.

Bulgaria's Bulgaria's Parliamentary Spokesman Georgi Pirinski attended the voting.

On March 3 the Portuguese parliament finished the discussions of the project resolution. All statements then were in favor of ratifying the treaty.

Portugal is the thirteenth country to complete the ratification procedure of Bulgaria and Romania's accord with the EU.

Sofia is hoping that all member states will ratify its EU accession treaty before the European Commission monitoring report in the spring of 2006, fearing a delay in its accession due to a delay in the ratifications.

If the notification of the ratification in all member states is not completed by 31 December 2006, the accession treaty will not enter into force and it will have to be renegotiated.

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The Portuguese parliament has discussed its European Affairs Committee's report on Romania and Bulgaria's EU accession treaty and will vote on the document in the following days.

According to sources inside Portugal's parliament, as quoted by Bucharest Daily News, no final date for the vote was set, but the assembly is expected to vote on the treaties by the end of the month.

The Portuguese government had sent the draft law regarding Romania and Bulgaria's EU accession to the parliament's foreign affairs and European affairs committees in September of last year.

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Austria will ratify Bulgaria and Romania’s EU Accession Treaty in the spring of this year after the publication of the European Commission’s report on the progress of the two countries, Romanian agency Makfax reported citing Austrian Federal Minister of Justice Karin Gastinger.

“The Austrian Parliament discussed recently the issue and already made its first step in relation to the issue. We will wait for the publication of the European Commission’s report on the progress of the two countries and then we will take a decision”, Karin Gastinger said in an interview with Deutsche Welle.
The Austrian Minister of Justice stated she relies on the current Bulgarian government, which, according to her, has the political will to cope with the problems.

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Germany will ratify Bulgaria and Romania's EU Accession treaty by the end of 2006, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

Talking at a news conference for foreign reporters in Berlin, Minister Steinmeier declined to specify a concrete date.

The German government is aware of the commitments, entered into during the negotiations for the expansion of the European Union and will launch the ratification procedure in time to conclude it by the end of the year, he added.

The minister noted that the two countries have launched a real offensive with the numerous visits of their officials to Germany, but it is still early to say whether January 1, 2007 is a feasible target date for EU accession.

Sofia is hoping that all member states will ratify its EU accession treaty before the European Commission monitoring report in the spring of 2006, fearing a delay in its accession due to a delay in the ratifications.

If the notification of the ratification in all member states is not completed by 31 December 2006, the accession treaty will not enter into force and it will have to be renegotiated.

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The Netherlands Second Chamber (lower house) ratified the Accession Treaty of Romania and Bulgaria to the European Union, by almost two thirds of the votes, on Tuesday.As already announced, the Christian Democratic Alliance headed by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende numbering 44 deputies and the Socialist Party with eight deputies along with two independents voted against. The remainder seven parliamentary political parties voted for the ratification.

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The House of Lords adopted on Tuesday, at the third reading, the bill on the ratification of the EU accession treaty for Romania and Bulgaria. In the fall, the House of Commons had debated and adopted the treaty. Now the bill will be sent for promulgation to Queen Elisabeth II. After that the ratification process by UK will be over. Until now, 12 of the 25 member states have ratified the treaty. Great Britain is the first north-west European country to ratify the treaty. The ratification is expected to set up debates in countries like Germany or Sweden. The accession of Romania and Bulgaria can take place only is all 25 member states ratify the treaty.

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The Dutch parliament debated Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to EU with discussions focusing mainly on Romania with some reference to Bulgaria, ACT Media news agency reports.


The Christian-democrats’ initiative to postpone the ratification of the treaty was not successful.

Next Tuesday, the MPs will vote the Accession Treaty of Romania and Bulgaria.

It is expected that the parliament will ratify the treaty, despite the pressures made by Christian-democrats, the government majority.

They had announced they would reject the treaty because corruption is still flourishing in Romania and reform in justice is slow.

The debate ended with the intervention of foreign minister Ben Bot, also a Christian democrat, who did not share the opinions of the party colleagues.

He said that they should be critical but honest adding that the government backed the accession of the two states and it was the moment of encouraging not criticism.

Answering the questions asked by MPs, the minister said the Netherlands had to gain from the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to EU because they would be new sales markets and stability in the area would grow.

One of the most debated topics was the migration of cheap labor force from Romania and Bulgaria to the Netherlands, a phenomenon feared by most parties.

Ben Bot considers that the Dutch economy would not be affected by the integration of the two countries, as it did not suffer from the accession of Spain or Portugal.

In the end Bot concluded: “We must give a positive signal.

The government is confident that both countries do their best to implement reforms and I think they have already fulfilled accession criteria in proportion of 80-90%.

He said it was not just the opinion of his government but of 24 other governments.

In his turn, the minister for European affairs, Atzo Nicolai, remarked the progress made by both countries and expressed his full support for their accession.

Nicolai thinks no other criticism is needed since the possibility of delaying accession by a year is the most efficient way of pressure.

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Integration Minister Anca Boagiu (left), British Minister for Europe Alexander Douglas and British Ambassador Quinton Quayle are seen before a press conference yesterday in Bucharest.

British Minister for Europe Douglas Alexander yesterday pledged Great Britain's support for Romania in its process of EU accession, but urged officials to speed up reforms.
"The pace of reform and rebirth that Romania has achieved is a testament to your citizens and your democracy," said Alexander, encouraging the EU candidate to urgently address negative issues identified in the European Commission's monitoring report last year.
During the press conference held together with Integration Minister Anca Boagiu yesterday, Alexander said Great Britain will ratify Romania's treaty accession for the report issued by the European Commission in May.
"We were keen to send a signal of the importance of seeing Romania and Bulgaria as EU members," Alexander said. However, he added that the Great Britain's intention is not to diminish the EU Commission's work.
When asked how the other EU countries will react if the Commission's report is negative, the British MP refused to make any predictions.
Nevertheless, he urged authorities to solve issues that were red flagged in the EU report, such as agriculture, border security and intellectual property.
Alexander said Romania needs to receive an even better report in May 2006 when the Commission's next progress report is issued.
He advised the Romanian authorities to keep fighting corruption, an issue he considers extremely dangerous for democracy and economic development. Alexander sees corruption as an element that can blight the rewards of EU membership and the benefits of the country's citizens.
"Corruption, in all its forms and in particular high-level corruption, is an insidious disease that attacks the very lifeblood of all countries it affects - its people. It damages democratic institutions and decision-making processes, courts of law, businesses, prospects for foreign investment," the British MP said.
However, Alexander said that if the essential preparations for EU membership are carried out on time, January 1 will see Romania and Bulgaria taking their rightful places alongside 25 other countries within the European Union, Alexander explained.
It all depends on Romania's force to fulfill its commitments.
"The ball is very much at Romania's feet," he said.
The minister admitted he was surprised to see how much Bucharest has grown in the few last years.
"Arriving in Bucharest today, I hardly recognize it as the country that emerged from oppression and dictatorship in 1989. Would any of you (...) have thought that in the space of the six years since those first negotiations with the EU began in February 2000 that so much could be achieved?" Alexander said.
The British MP recognized the work of Romanian officials and their commitment in continuing reforms. Moreover, he praised the progresses made in the justice field.
"I want here to pay tribute to the commitment of Minister of Justice Monica Macovei, in her unstinting work to reform the judiciary," Alexander said.
Nevertheless, Alexander said development and reform in Romania should not stop at accession.
"Like every other nation, Romania must continue to improve. In the main acquis-related areas Romania still needs to do more work - agriculture, borders, environment, intellectual property - all of which are essential if Romania is to be competitive in the EU," said Alexander.
Integration Minister Anca Boagiu thanked Alexander for contribution of he and his colleagues in supporting Romania in its efforts to join the European Union, especially during the Great Britain's EU presidency.
"I can tell you, Douglas, that we will accede on January 1, 2007," she assured the British MP. Boagiu said Britain has always had an innovative view over the EU enlargement, as it was during its term that Romania carried out most of the necessary reforms.
"Great Britain is an exigent friend. An exigent friend tells you the truth. (...) Great Britain was practically an advocate of Romania's cause and a fair partner as long as we have fulfilled our commitments," Boagiu said.

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