European Commission Confirms EU Accession of Bulgaria and Romania with Accompanying Measures

On Tuesday, the European Commission adopted its final monitoring report on the preparedness of Bulgaria and Romania for EU membership. Based on the solid progress achieved, the Commission considered that both countries will be in a position to take on the rights and obligations of EU membership on January 1, 2007. To address the limited number of areas where further work will be necessary, the Commission proposed a package of rigorous accompanying measures.

In a statement before the European Parliament presenting the report, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said:

"The accession of Bulgaria and Romania will mark an historic achievement: the completion of the 5th enlargement of the European Union, which further pursues the reunification of our European family....  The most recent enlargement - like others before it - has proved to be a great success. It has confirmed that enlarging the Union - if carefully managed - produces a win-win situation for both the existing and the acceding Member States....Today's report also outlines some areas where both countries need to achieve further progress by sustaining the current reform drive until accession and beyond.  The Commission has fixed a number of measures to accompany the accession of Bulgaria and Romania. [It] will set up a mechanism for cooperation and verification of progress in the areas of judicial reform, the fight against corruption, and organised crime. The mechanism contains specific benchmarks which have to be met....We are looking forward to Bulgaria's and Romania's historic achievement of European Union membership in 2007. I expect both to contribute energetically to the process of European integration."

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