The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : Romania & Bulgaria take the first steps

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Wednesday, May 04, 2005

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Romania & Bulgaria take the first steps

Romania and Bulgaria recently signed an accession treaty that should pave the way — subject to ratification by their respective Parliaments and the 25 member states — to eventual admission to the European Union (EU) in 2007. The European Parliament approved their accession earlier, despite pressure to postpone a decision pending a European Commission (EC) report on the preparedness of the two Balkan countries for membership. They failed to qualify last year because of their unsatisfactory record in the areas of human rights, corruption, judicial reforms and freedom of the press. The latest treaty provides for delaying entry by one year should progress in the coming months prove inadequate. After the biggest ever expansion in 2004, there was apprehension that major players may stall entry of more states in order to appease their domestic constituencies in the run-up to the referendum on the constitution. The accession pact has allayed this fear. Gaining entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in 2004 was a major step forward in their endeavour to come under the Western umbrella. What boosted the prospects of their integration with Europe was their recognition by the EC as functioning market economies — a precondition for membership — by virtue of their sustained economic growth and financial stability in recent years. Accession means that officials of the two states will be allowed to take part in EU meetings as observers.

While it is true that previous European Conventions and the new constitution accord a pre-eminent position for the enforcement of human rights legislation and greater transparency of public institutions, outstanding questions have served as a pretext to stall negotiations in the past. While the absence of a free press is often held against Romania, such criticism betrays a lack of holistic appreciation of issues, since corrupt institutions are an enemy of an independent press. This was revealed graphically by a recent controversy involving the two newspapers, Evenimentul Zilei and Romania Libera, which protested against what they termed interference in their editorial content by their Western owners who were keen to be on the right side of the government. It would be most unfortunate if such systemic shortcomings were exploited by Western Europe for countering the challenges thrown up by last year's expansion, in particular their political cost. The two-way benefits of Europe's integration should be only too obvious to founder members France and Germany. It is therefore imperative that they eschew rhetoric and win over sceptical opinion. A significant long term fallout of the entry of Romania and Bulgaria could be the eventual admission of the Western Balkan states. This is of particular relevance to the future of the states carved out of former Yugoslavia, whose integration into the EU is a crucial part of the international plan for the rehabilitation of this war-torn region.

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