Bucharest and Sofia see 2007 EU entry as confirmed

BRUSSELS - Romania and Bulgaria have welcomed the European Commission report on their EU membership bids, with Romanian Europe minister Anca Daniela Boagiu saying it is a "reconfirmation" of entry in 2007.

The positive reaction comes despite the commission's decision on Tuesday (16 May) to leave a key recommendation on Bucharest and Sofia's exact EU accession date to the autumn.

In another report due in October, the commission could still recommend that member states postpone scheduled EU entry by one year, from January 2007 to January 2008, if entry preparations are inadequate.

But Romania's Ms Boagiu told EUobserver "this is a reconfirmation of the accession date of 1 January 2007."

She highlighted that according to Romania's accession treaty, signed in 2005, entry postponement can primarily be triggered by justice and curruption shortcomings - an area where Tuesday's report recorded important progress for Bucharest.

"Romania has shown deep and full commitment to justice reforms and nothing will stop us."

"We will work with the European Commission as a partner to reach further progress," she said.

"We are sure that Romania can do it."

Sofia hopes for fair monitoring

Bulgaria's Europe minister Meglena Kuneva expressed more caution, reflecting the more critical judgement that her country received in Brussels' report on serious crime-fighting and corruption backlogs.

Ms Kuneva said "this is a confirmation [of the entry date] from the side of the commission - but we are those who should deliver the final confirmation."

The Bulgarian minister characterised Tuesday's report as "correct," "very supportive," and "a roadmap for further efforts."

She invited commission officials to "physically" be present in the office of her country's chief prosecutor Boris Velchev for a longer period "to witness our efforts."

Mr Velchev, talking to EUobserver last week, expressed frustration over earlier "peer reviews" by EU member states' experts which formed the basis of Tuesday's commission report.

He slammed the practice whereby experts only stayed in Sofia for a few days and subsequently delivered highly critical reports to Brussels.

"It takes a lot of confidence to judge the system of a country after a few days there, and not speaking the language," he said, pleading for longer expert stays of "weeks or months."

Two countries, two dates?

Meanwhile, some Romanian politicians are reportedly unhappy that Brussels on Tuesday drew the same conclusion on the entry date for Bucharest as for Sofia, although Bucharest scored higher notes notably on crime and corruption.

Some MEPs on Tuesday stressed that the two EU hopefuls should be judged separately in the autumn report, with Dutch christian democrat member Camiel Eurlings saying that Romania and Bulgaria should be "de-coupled."

When asked whether the commission supports this line, enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said that Brussels will indeed judge Sofia and Bucharest "on their own merits."