European Parliament resolution on Romania's progress towards accession (COM(2004)0657 — C6-0151/2004 — 2004/2184(INI))
Date: 2004-12-16
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Romania, accession criteria, accession to the European Union, constitutional revision, decentralisation, economic situation, freedom of the press, independence of the judiciary, political situation

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Calls on the Council and Commission, once the Accession Treaty is concluded, to examine the possi-

13.
bilities of increasing pre-accession financial assistance;

14.
Expresses its grave concern over the plight of the Bulgarian and Palestinian medical workers arrested
in 1999 as suspects in a criminal case and the death sentences handed down against them on 6 May 2004;
pending the appeal process, trusts that Libya, upon re-examination of existing evidence, may wish to con-
clude that justice would be served by their release at the earliest opportunity;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the Bulgarian

15.
Government and Parliament.

P6_TA(2004)0111

Romania's progress towards accession

European Parliament resolution on Romania's progress towards accession (COM(2004)0657 —
C6-0151/2004 — 2004/2184(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Commission's 2004 Regular Report on Romania's progress towards accession and
to the Commission Strategy Paper on progress in the enlargement process (COM(2004)0657 —
C6-0151/2004),

— having regard to the Presidency Conclusions of

the Copenhagen European Council of 12 and

13 December 2002 and the Brussels European Council of 12 and 13 December 2003,

— having regard to all its resolutions since the start of the accession process,

— having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on

Budgets (A6-0061/2004),

A. whereas Romania has made significant efforts to move towards accession,

B. whereas the assessment of Romania is based on strict observance of the Copenhagen criteria and the
Presidency Conclusions of the Helsinki European Council of 10 and 11 December 1999, as well as on
the principle of a differentiated approach,

C. whereas further efforts are needed, especially in the sphere of justice and home affairs as regards com-
bating corruption and organised crime and as regards border checks, and in the area of competition as
regards state aid, and also in the field of the environment as regards the implementation of legislation
in all sectors and the alignment of horizontal legislation,

Political situation and criteria

1.
Acknowledges that, as the Commission's report concluded, Romania is satisfying the Copenhagen
political criteria and has strengthened the stability of its institutions, thereby guaranteeing democracy, the
rule of law, human rights, and respect for, and protection of, minorities, those of the Hungarians no less
than those of the Roma, although the need remains for further reforms in the spheres of justice and public
administration and greater efforts to combat corruption;

2.
Congratulates Romania on the progress achieved as regards administrative and judicial reforms and on
the launch of the strategy to reform public administration, essential for decentralisation and devolved
is confident that Romania recognises the
organisation of the civil service and for policy coordination;

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importance of continuing to pursue administrative and judicial reforms as a priority and that considerable
efforts will continue to be devoted to implementing these reforms across the board;

Urges Romania to press swiftly ahead with Civil Service reform as a priority, as it has to do in order to
3.
integrate smoothly into the Union; recommends that particular attention be paid to implementing the
provisions of the public administration reform strategy of May 2004, with specific emphasis on adequate
remuneration for civil servants, promotion on the basis of merit and open competition, and improved
management and training; welcomes the adoption of the Code of Ethics for Civil Servants in February
2004;

4. Welcomes the efforts that Romania has made in the area of decentralisation and local government,
and in particular the strategy of May 2004; is concerned, however, that Romania has yet to address the
problems identified by the Commission's 2003 report in this area; emphasises the importance of streng-
thening administrative capacity and financial management at the local level, while ensuring that local gov-
ernment has sufficient revenues and human and material resources;

5.
Acknowledges that, in keeping with its request, emergency ordinances have been used only in the
‘exceptional circumstances’ provided for in the Romanian Constitution, but regrets that, in reality, reliance
on this type of practice has not decreased; repeats its call for the Romanian Government to refrain from
resorting to emergency ordinances and to employ ordinary legislative procedures; calls for a clearer and
more explicit definition of what is meant by ‘exceptional circumstances’ in the context of emergency ordi-
nances;

Congratulates Romania on the October 2003 revision of

its Constitution, which has helped to
6.
rationalise parliamentary procedures in that the two houses have each been given primary responsibility
for different types of legislation; is of the opinion that efforts need to continue with a view to improving
policy-making and law-making;

7.
Calls on Romania, and in particular the judicial authorities, to give full effect to the laws on freedom
of information; calls on the Romanian Government and Parliament to bring greater openness to law-making
so that the media can scrutinise their work more easily;

8.
Believes that, as far as freedom of expression is concerned, the legal position for journalists has
improved, but is alarmed at the growing number of serious physical assaults on investigative journalists
and calls for efforts to be made to shed light on these cases;
is concerned also at the fact that many
organisations active in the media field remain in a precarious economic situation, enabling the authorities
to exert pressure; considers that further efforts are needed to guarantee the independence of the media more
effectively; therefore encourages further steps to guarantee the complete assertion of freedom of expression;

Calls on Romania to intensify the strategy and action plan adopted by the Government with a view to
9.
completing the reform of the judicial system, focusing on practical enforcement of the laws adopted; to that
end, calls on Romania swiftly to provide the human and financial resources needed to make the reform
effective;

10. Welcomes measures taken thus far to disentangle the executive from the judiciary, such as removing
the Minister of Justice's power to make judicial appointments or promotions; expresses disquiet at the
Commission's finding referring to official surveys which confirm that the executive continues to influence
the outcome of judicial proceedings; renews its call for the judicial system to be made more independent
and professional; calls on Romania to create an environment more conducive to the exercise of judicial
authority by recruiting more judges and offering them greater opportunities to follow in-service training,
including through the use of best practice as tried and tested in the EU countries; calls on Romania to
follow all the recommendations of the Commission's regular report in this area in order to ensure the
proper rule of law;

11.
Urges Romania to make significant progress in the area of decentralisation and local self-government
by awarding more and adequate financial as well as personnel resources to local authorities, by modernising
working methods, by increasing salaries and by providing effective training;

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12.
Congratulates the Government on adopting a set of three laws concerning the Judicial Service Com-
mission, organisation of the judicial system, and the status of judges; calls on the authorities to start enfor-
cing these laws, which entered into force on 30 September 2004, with the aim of making the judicial
system markedly more independent and effective;

Thursday 16 December 2004

13.
Expresses disquiet that, despite the concern expressed by the Commission regarding the freedom of
association legislation, the registration of alternative political organisations representing national minorities
has encountered considerable administrative obstacles, preventing them from participating in elections;

14.
Notes that corruption remains a source of serious concern; is alarmed, in this context, at the Com-
mission's assessment that the number of successful prosecutions for corruption in Romania remains low,
especially for high-level corruption; calls on the Romanian Government to step up its efforts to fight cor-
ruption, focusing especially on high-level corruption; calls on Romania to make further efforts to confer
greater responsibility on the Corruption Enforcement Office and to guarantee its independence and effec-
tiveness; welcomes Romania's positive response to the European Parliament's call to increase the staffing
levels of the National Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and her positive participation thus far in the
Council of Europe's Group of States against corruption (GRECO), and urges her to make further moves in
this direction;

Calls on Romania, given that it is a country of origin, transit, and destination for victims of people-
15.
trafficking, to take specific law enforcement measures in that area, such as closer cooperation between the
Romanian authorities concerned (border police, national police, public prosecutor's office, department of
aliens, national refugee office, etc.) and their counterparts in neighbouring countries, and to submit accurate
annual figures to enable the progress of those measures to be gauged;

16.
Congratulates Romania on its July 2004 action plan on adoption of the Schengen criteria and calls
on it to implement the plan rapidly and in full so as to speed up modernisation of its equipment, facilities
and human resources and to improve policing and surveillance of its borders with Ukraine, Moldova, and
the Black Sea;

17.
Congratulates Romania on responding to international appeals and Parliament's requests by introduc-
ing national child protection standards and strict rules to govern inter-country adoption; considers that, if
properly enforced, this new legislative framework should serve to protect children's rights even more effec-
tively; points out that all families affected by the moritorium should continue to receive a reply and there-
fore supports the idea of creating an international commission to study certain cases in the near future;

Asks that special attention be given to children and young adults leaving institutional care who need

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to be adequately reintegrated and supported in the community and protected from abuse;

Congratulates Romania on aligning its legislation with the practice of the European Court of Human
19.
Rights regarding the prevention of ill-treatment at detention centres, but is alarmed by the continuing
reports concerning cases of ill-treatment at police stations, prisons, and mental hospitals; calls on the
Romanian authorities to investigate effectively all abuses and bring to justice those responsible for human
rights violations;

20.
Expresses its deep concern at the fact that people with mental disabilities are subjected to arbitrary
detention in mental hospitals and at the inadequacy of conditions and lack of appropriate care in many
mental hospitals and other residential institutions for people with mental disabilities; calls on Romania to
address this situation as a matter of the utmost urgency and to ensure that hospitals and institutions have
adequate resources for treatment and living conditions;

Considers that the Roma strategy, aimed expressly at combating discrimination, is admittedly being
21.
implemented, but voices its disquiet about the Commission's view that violence and de facto discrimination
against the Roma minority, even in official institutions, are still very widespread; urges the Romanian Gov-
ernment to continue to expand its action in this area and to prioritise education and capacity-building
together with special measures to counteract discrimination; and welcomes the recent establishment of the
National Agency for Roma Affairs;

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Economic criteria

22.
Congratulates Romania on the conclusions of the Commission's report that Romania fulfils the
criteria indicative of a functioning market economy and has been vigorously implementing a structural
reform programme that should enable it to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the
Union;

Calls on Romania to make the improvements required to bolster macroeconomic stability and con-
23.
solidate the structural reforms; points out that, in order to continue reducing the public sector deficit, it is
necessary to ensure financial discipline, continuously adjusting energy prices so as to enable costs to be
covered and improving the financial performance of public enterprises;

24.
Calls on the Government to bring privatisation to completion, settle the disputes which have arisen
from that process, and rapidly dismantle enterprises which are not viable; considers that progress is needed
as regards the operation of the judicial system and public administration so as to enable the law to be
enforced consistently and predictably and to create a favourable environment for business and foreign
investment;

25.
Points out that poverty remains an extremely serious problem in Romania, even though the indi-
cators measuring this scourge have fallen slightly within the last two years (2003 and 2004); applauds the
work of the Romanian Government, which has set out to fight social exclusion and poverty as a matter of
priority and has done a great deal to identify the main challenges, namely those posed by children leaving
public institutions, young people who cannot enter the labour market, farming families, pensioners, the
homeless and the Roma, and urges it to seek the most appropriate solutions; welcomes the fact that a
legal framework has been laid down to govern welfare provision and that an attempt is being made to
involve non-governmental organisations in the distribution of the welfare aid; calls on the Romanian auth-
orities to continue to develop poverty statistics and to finalise the memorandum on social inclusion com-
piled jointly with the Commission;

26.
Congratulates Romania on adopting a substantial body of social welfare legislation, increasing public
spending in that area, and adopting a social programme for 2003 and 2004 aimed at fostering solidarity;
at the same time stresses that Romania should take more rigorous measures than hitherto to create oppor-
tunities for new business start-ups in the country as a basis for future prosperity; and urges Romania to
continue the reform of the social security and welfare system, particularly with regard to improving health
services, including a comprehensive reform of mental health care and ensuring the social inclusion of people
with disabilities;

Criteria related to the ‘acquis’

27.
Considers that Romania has achieved a satisfactory degree of alignment in the vast majority of areas
and that, if it continues to advance at the current rate and honours its undertakings, it will have every
prospect of completing the requisite legislative transposition before the scheduled accession date;

28.
Supports Romania's efforts to boost its administrative capacities in most of the areas covered by the
‘acquis’; points out to Romania that improvements to legislation and the adoption of action plans are not
enough, but that implementation and enforcement arrangements should be adopted in all areas; considers
that specific steps should be taken to monitor the application of laws and that accurate annual figures
should be supplied to enable the progress of these measures to be gauged;

Calls on Romania to address itself energetically to the measures which have still to be transposed in

29.
the areas of the free movement of goods, the free movement of capital, customs and financial control;

30.
Calls on Romania to do much more to implement the legislation in all sectors related to the environ-
ment; calls on Romania to improve the alignment of horizontal environmental legislation, especially in the
sectors of air quality, waste management, water quality and nature conservation, and in a number of other
sectors;

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31.
Supports the ambitions of the Romanian Government to develop the Danube delta as a Natura 2000
area and calls on the Commission to accompany these activities by supporting them as a cross-border
measure with Ukraine and also by mediating in the ongoing conflict of interests, which could otherwise
present an obstacle to the full protection of this important European nature area;

Believes that, as far as state aid is concerned, there is still room for great improvement in the record

32.
of the Romanian authorities regarding enforcement of the legislation;

Urges Romania to ensure that consistently high standards of public procurement and tendering rules

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and procedures are adhered to, in accordance with the ‘acquis’;

Considers in general that the administrative and enforcement capacities of the agencies responsible
34.
for managing Community funds need to be boosted substantially; believes, as far as agriculture is concerned,
that Romania must further strengthen the administrative and enforcement capacities of the Sapard Agency;

Calls on Romania, as regards social policy and employment, to ensure that the Labour Inspectorate
35.
has sufficient resources to enable health and safety provisions to be enforced; calls on it, in addition, to
focus its efforts with a view to improving the business climate;

Urges the Romanian Government to improve the conditions for the implementation of the European

36.
Social Fund, and thereby also the absorption capacity for the funding of employment strategy measures;

Notes that the alignment of Romania's legislation with the ‘acquis communautaire’ is relatively satis-
37.
factory in the fields of energy, industry, research and telecommunications; nevertheless calls on the Govern-
ment to bring the utmost attention to bear on the legislation related to industrial policy, given that the
structural weaknesses in the sector limit the capacity for enforcement; considers that measures to ensure the
security of energy supplies are also urgently needed, since decommissioning inefficient heating systems and
dealing with unviable coal mines are still key challenges, which require social measures to be taken to relieve
labour hardship, and that the liberalisation of the telecoms sector needs to be rethought;

Points out that for the year 2004 the total

financial pre-accession assistance to Romania has
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amounted to around EUR 825 million,
i.e. EUR 405,3 million for the PHARE National Programme,
EUR 158,7 million from Sapard and between EUR 289 and EUR 343 million from ISPA; thus, the total
volume of assistance is equal to around 1,4 % of the country's GDP;

39.
Calls on Romania to continue its efforts as regards regional policy and coordination of structural
instruments so as to raise its administrative capacities to a level that would enable it to benefit to the full
from the structural instruments;

40.
Calls on Romania to bring the utmost attention to bear on implementation of legislation in the field
of justice and home affairs and to strengthen the law enforcement agencies and institutions, which are still
hampered by staff shortages and a lack of training capacities; and calls on it to speed up the restitution of
property and to adopt legislation on the restitution of churches;

41.
Expresses its deep concern about the long transitional periods agreed regarding the environment
chapter, particularly as regards the Rosia Montana mine development, which poses a serious environmental
threat to the whole region;

Conclusion

42.
Hopes and believes that the negotiations can be brought to a swift and satisfactory conclusion by the
end of 2004, if Romania, the Council and the Commission make the necessary efforts, so as to enable the
accession treaty to be signed as early as possible in 2005 and to enter into force on 1 January 2007;

43.
Points out that Romania will be subject to the same provisions as Bulgaria and the new Member
States, and will therefore be made subject to specific safeguard clauses in the event of serious shortcomings
(under Articles 37, 38, and 39 of the Athens Treaty);

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44.
Points out to Romania that, in addition, a specific safeguard measure could be invoked in relation to
it — and, for that matter, in relation to Bulgaria — whereby the Commission, were it to consider that there
existed a serious risk that Romania might not be able to fulfil the obligations deriving from accession,
especially as regards implementation of the ‘acquis’ and compliance with the Copenhagen political criteria,
could recommend that the Council, acting unanimously, put back its accession by one year; the accession of
Romania must be accomplished on merit and on the strength of its performance;

45. Will keep a close watch on developments during the time between the signing of the treaty and
accession proper; in this connection, calls on the Commission to continue to keep Parliament regularly
informed via its Committee on Foreign Affairs;

46.
Urges Romania, therefore, to show singleness of purpose and perseverance in giving full effect to the
commitments that it has entered into during the negotiations; will ensure that the Commission provides for
close ongoing monitoring and assistance arrangements to help Romania on that path;

*

*

*

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to Council, the Commission and the Government

47.
and Parliament of Romania.

P6_TA(2004)0112

Zimbabwe

The European Parliament,

European Parliament resolution on Zimbabwe

— having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Zimbabwe, most recently that of 15 Janu-

ary 2004 (1),

— having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas 75 % of the Zimbabwean population, some nine million people, are now living below the
poverty line, and the World Food Programme has only been able to provide food aid for 1,6 million
people in December 2004, owing to interference from the Mugabe regime,

B. whereas the Mugabe regime is intensifying its political oppression under the Public Order and Security
Act and other such measures, as well as through additional repressive legislation, for example the Non-
Governmental Organisations Act, which infringes fundamental human rights such as freedom of associ-
ation,

C. whereas a case of particular and urgent concern is that of opposition MP Roy Bennett, who, in the five
years since his election, has been the subject of a vicious campaign of persecution by the Mugabe
regime; whereas Roy Bennett MP was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment with hard labour on
28 October 2004 on spurious charges and is now being held in appalling conditions in Mutoko,

D. whereas a general election is scheduled to take place in Zimbabwe in March 2005, but whereas the
regime's Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Bill and Electoral Bill fall short of the required Southern
Africa Development Community (SADC) standards for free and fair elections,

(1) Texts Adopted, P5_TA(2004)0033.