If anyone has any doubts about the new religion of the East,here comes Holly Rehn…
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The blog of the 2006 trainees of the Council of the EU. Photos, comments, parties, more photos... Bilingual French-English or any combination of these languages with some others: Polenglish, Spanglish, Fralmand...
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4 commentaires:
бляскав,
... a dit Miguelito en parfait bulgare!!!
"The jury is still out for Bulgaria and Romania" – says Rehn
Any remaining shortcomings in Bulgaria and Romania will be identified when the European Commission publishes its monitoring reports on both countries' preparedness on May 16, European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told the foreign affairs committee of the European Parliament on April 3. And if the analysis shows that one or the other country is manifestly unprepared in a number of important areas, the Commission may recommend postponing its accession to 2008, he warned. But "we will also examine which measures may need to be taken in order to remedy those shortcomings", he went on.
He promised that the reports – which are currently under preparation, and will report on developments until the end of April – would be objective and fair. The preliminary assessment was that commendable achievements had been made in democratic and economic transformation.
He said that Romania has made progress in the fight against corruption, with sound and solid structures set up, and investigations into high-level corruption cases launched – giving a signal to the society that nobody is now above the law. But "high-level corruption needs to be more vigorously addressed", and Romania needs tangible results of investigations with concrete outcomes: indictments, convictions and dissuasive sentences.
After significant progress with the judiciary system, further implementation is needed, and on public administration, Romania still needs to complete reforms, particularly on the civil service. Trafficking in human beings still remains a problem, and on integration of minorities, Romania needs to speed up, particularly in providing sufficient resources for the integration of the Roma minority.
Bulgaria's progress in the reform of the judiciary system has been "limited", said Rehn, and long-awaited amendments to the Constitution, adopted at the end of March, "leave certain ambiguities regarding guarantees on the independence of the judiciary". In the fight against corruption, there have been only "first steps", and existing legal provisions to pursue high-level corruption have only rarely been used: Bulgaria too needs to show tangible results of investigations, "to demonstrate that the political will and effective structures are there". Similarly, in the fight against organised crime, "there are still very few investigations and prosecutions". As a result, "the balance sheet of Bulgaria's judiciary reform is not yet satisfactory".
In addition, trafficking in human beings "remains a problem for Bulgaria", which needs – among other things – to fully implement its witness protection programme. It needs to speed up efforts on integration of minorities, particularly the Roma.
For both countries, efforts need to be sustained on implementation of EU rules and practices – including to ensure the operability of the agriculture paying agency by the end of this year. Bulgaria still needs to complete its veterinary inspection posts, and both countries need to enhance their rendering capacity.
"A recommendation to postpone accession will only be made in cases of major problems", said Rehn. But in both accession scenarios – 2007 and 2008 – "the Commission will examine whether corrective action, such as safeguards, will be needed to remedy possible deficiencies that may persist after accession".
SPEECH/06/218
Olli Rehn
Member of the European Commission, responsible for Enlargement
“Bulgaria and Romania – Preliminary Assessment”
European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee
Strasbourg, 3 April 2006
Mr President,
Honourable Members,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure for me to address this session of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament to discuss Bulgaria's and Romania's preparations for accession to the European Union. I would like to welcome the constructive role played by the European Parliament in both countries' accession process.
Our discussion today takes place around a month-and-a-half before the publication of our next Monitoring Reports on both countries’ preparedness. We intend to present these Reports to Parliament and Council on 16 May.
In our Reports, we will review the countries' progress since our October 2005 Reports and we will identify any remaining shortcomings. We will also examine which measures may need to be taken in order to remedy those shortcomings. Should our analysis show that one or the other country is manifestly unprepared in a number of important areas, the Commission may, in the context of these Reports recommend postponing the accession of either country from 2007 to 2008, in accordance with the relevant Accession Treaty provisions.
On this last aspect, President Barroso promised last April to you that the Commission would seriously consider the views of the Parliament before issuing any such recommendation, in order to fully associate it to any possible decision to postpone accession. I am here to honour this commitment.
Honourable Members,
Let me first brief you on our approach.
With Bulgaria and Romania, our focus is now firmly on ensuring that both countries successfully complete their final preparations for accession. Therefore, our May Reports will focus on the actions taken by both countries to address the remaining shortcomings identified in our October 2005 Reports. This will be done for all three accession criteria: political, economic and the implementation of the acquis communautaire.
Our Reports will be objective and fair, drawing on the most comprehensive and detailed factual information possible. We will once again rely on a wide array of sources of information, in order to establish where both countries stand in their preparations. This includes information provided by the countries themselves, by the Parliament, by the Member States in the context of peer reviews, by international organisations and by NGOs. In order to allow the countries a meaningful period to address the issues, we will report on developments until the end of April this year. The full factual basis will therefore only be available in the beginning of May.
The Reports are currently under preparation and I can of course not prejudge their final findings. The Commission, as a political institution, will approve them in May. This being said, I am pleased to give you already now our preliminary assessment, based on the information we have today.
Honourable Members,
Both countries can be commended for their achievements so far in democratic and economic transformation. They both meet the political criteria since a number of years. They are also on their way to fully meet the economic and acquis criteria. Work is thus quite far already, but in a number of outstanding areas reforms need to be still completed. And this is what our Reports will focus on.
Since our October Reports, progress by both countries has continued. Both Bulgaria and Romania have shown determination to undertake necessary remaining reforms.
Let me begin with issues of political nature.
Romania has made progress in the fight against corruption. Sound and solid structures have been set up for this purpose, and investigations into high-level corruption cases have been launched. This is immensely important. It gives a signal to the society that for the first time in the history of the country, nobody is above the law.
Of course, these are still preliminary signals, and the positive trend must still be confirmed and proven. High-level corruption needs to be more vigorously addressed. Romania now needs to establish tangible results of investigations with concrete outcomes, such as indictments, convictions and dissuasive sentences.
As regards the judiciary system, we can note significant progress in Romania. She has pursued to implement the 2005 legal package which aims at creating an independent, professional and effective judiciary system. It needs to ensure further implementation. We believe Romania is on track with reforms of the judiciary system, provided that the current pace of implementation is maintained.
As regards the functioning and structure of its public administration, Romania has taken some steps but it still needs to complete reforms, in particular as regards civil service reform.
Trafficking in human beings still remains a problem for Romania. However, increased co-operation with Member States has already led to some results in dismantling networks.
In the areas of child protection and the situation of the disabled and mentally retarded people, there are some encouraging examples by NGOs and supported mostly by foreign donors. Certainly, we all acknowledge that the situation as regards child protection in Romania is now much better than it used to be in previous years.
As regards the integration of minorities, Romania needs to speed up efforts. In particular, sufficient resources will need to be allocated to the integration of the Roma minority.
Honourable Members,
In Bulgaria, progress in the reform of the judiciary system has been limited. The new penal procedural code, which was adopted last October, will enter into force on 29 April. Important and long-awaited amendments to the Constitution were adopted last week. They constitute a step forward by, for instance, reducing the scope of immunity of members of parliament. However, they also leave certain ambiguities regarding guarantees on the independence of the judiciary; it is important that any ambiguity be removed.
Bulgaria has taken the first steps in the fight against corruption. For the first time, the immunity of two members of parliament has been lifted, allowing to pursue allegations of corruption. But existing legal provisions to pursue high-level corruption have only rarely been used. This needs to be addressed much more vigorously.
Bulgaria now needs to show tangible results of investigations with concrete outcomes, such as indictments, convictions and dissuasive sentences, to demonstrate that the political will and effective structures are there.
As regards the fight against organised crime in Bulgaria, efforts have been made to streamline organisational structures, such as bringing all police service under one roof. However, there are still very few investigations and prosecutions.
All in all, the balance sheet of Bulgaria’s judiciary reform is not yet satisfactory. Accountability, transparency and efficiency of her judiciary system must be enhanced. Ambiguities of independence of the judiciary must be removed. Furthermore, the structures to fight corruption and organised crime must be reinforced, and a convincing track record established in this critical area.
Bulgaria has continued to improve the functioning and structure of its public administration. It has recently adopted legislation to enhance the efficiency of state administration. It has also created a specific Ministry in charge of all administrative reform issues.
Trafficking in human beings remains a problem for Bulgaria. However, increased co-operation with Member States has led to some results in dismantling networks. In order to be more efficient in its fight against this trafficking, Bulgaria needs to fully implement its witness protection programme.
In the areas of child protection and the situation of the disabled and mentally retarded people, there are some encouraging examples by NGOs and supported mostly by foreign donors.
As regards the integration of minorities, Bulgaria needs to speed up efforts. In particular, sufficient resources will need to be allocated to the integration of the Roma minority.
Honourable Members,
Turning now to the implementation of the acquis communautaire where a considerable degree of alignment had been reached last autumn, both countries have continued progress.
For example, as concerns the protection of intellectual property rights, we have noted positive developments in both countries with the adoption and implementation of action plans for improving administrative structures or of legislation for improving the fight against piracy. But efforts need to be sustained.
In the area of agriculture, Bulgaria has adopted legislation to establish a paying agency for a sound and efficient management of national and EU support. Romania still needs to ensure the operability of the paying agency by the end of the year. It also needs to secure the setting up of the IACS system for direct payments.
As concerns veterinary issues, Bulgaria still needs complete its veterinary inspection posts. Both countries need to enhance the rendering capacity of the country.
As regards the management of Structural Funds, Bulgaria has put in place the main legislation and structures while Romania has designated the bodies in charge and is strengthening the administrative structures. These positive trends should be secured.
Bulgaria has adopted an updated Schengen action plan and an integrated border management strategy. These need now to be put into practice. Romania has continued the implementation of its Schengen action plan.
Honourable Members,
I hope my concise oral report of today will give you as clear picture as possible of what our assessment in our May Reports is likely to be. Of course, my remarks do not exhaustively address all the issues which will be covered in the reports.
In addition, as I have said, the cut-off date to consider information on measures adopted and implemented for our Reports is almost one month from now. As both countries are working hard to meet the requirements, we may see further progress until then on which we will of course report.
The Commission’s conclusions and its decision on whether or not to recommend to the Council that it should postpone the accession of Bulgaria and/or Romania until 1 January 2008 will entirely depend on the findings of our Reports. As Commissioner for enlargement, I will myself make the necessary recommendation to the College, based on my judgement of the merits of the case, having seriously considered also the possible views of this house.
A recommendation to postpone accession will only be made in cases of major problems, as foreseen in the Accession Treaty. If the Commission recommends postponing accession, the Council could decide on that in June. Otherwise, accession will take place in 2007.
In both accession scenarios – 2007 and 2008 – the Commission will examine whether corrective action, such as safeguards, will be needed to remedy possible deficiencies that may persist after accession. As the guardian of the treaties, the Commission will not hesitate to activate these mechanisms where necessary. They can be mostly invoked, if need be, by a Commission decision.
We will in any case re-examine the situation of both countries this autumn in our next monitoring reports to Parliament and Council. In the event of a 2007 accession for one or two countries, we would then address more precisely any possible corrective action that may be needed as of January 2007 in order to ensure sound accession.
President, Honourable Members,
As you can yourself conclude, the jury is still out. For both countries the 2007 target date is still doable, but it requires a completion of the reforms and their implementation. While safeguard clauses can provide remedies in certain sectors, it is the judiciary reform and fight against corruption and crime that are the critical yardsticks. The rule of law underpins the functioning of the whole society and economy; thus it is of fundamental importance for EU accession.
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