European Parliament resolution on the extent of Romania's readiness for accession to the European Union (2005/2205(INI))
Date: 2005-12-15
Institutions: Committee on Foreign Affairs, European Parliament
Subjects: Community acquis, Romania, accession criteria, accession to the European Union

C 286 E/516

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

23.11.2006

Thursday 15 December 2005

P6_TA(2005)0531

Romania

European Parliament resolution on the extent of Romania's readiness for accession to the European
Union (2005/2205(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Presidency conclusions of the Brussels European Council of 16 and 17 December

2004,

— having regard to the Treaty of Accession to the European Union signed by Romania on 25 April 2005,

— having regard to the regular reports of the Commission on the progress made by Romania towards
accession, covering the years 1998 to 2004, and the Commission's strategy document on the progress
made in the process of enlargement (COM(2004)0657),

— having regard to all its resolutions and previous reports, from the beginning of the accession process to

date,

— having regard to the general progress report of 25 October 2005 on the extent of the readiness of

Bulgaria and Romania for accession to the European Union (COM(2005)0534),

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

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (A6-0344/2005),

A. whereas in 2000 Romania and Bulgaria were among the candidate countries for accession alongside
other countries which have since become members, and whereas the fifth enlargement of the European
Union was not complete and should be finalised, in the interests of Romania and the Union and in
compliance with the commitments made on both sides,

B. whereas signature of the Treaty of Accession opened up a new phase in Romania's accession to the
Union, whereas Romania is now participating in the work of the European Council and of the Council
as an observer, and whereas 35 Romanian observers began working with Parliament on 26 September
2005,

C. whereas significant improvements can be seen to have been achieved since the Commission's last

report,

D. whereas progress in certain areas has not been satisfactory, and whereas Romania must take immediate

steps to make good these shortcomings in order to join the Union on 1 January 2007,

E. whereas the prospect of accession acts as a powerful catalyst for reform by mobilising the various

actors in political, economic, social and civil life,

F. whereas the actual date of accession will be determined on the basis of a Commission recommendation

after rigorous analysis of Romania's state of readiness,

Reaffirms that Romania's accession is a common objective of the Union and of Romania, making it
1.
possible, together with the accession of Bulgaria, to complete the fifth enlargement of the Union which
began with the great liberation movement in central and eastern Europe;

2. Maintains that it wishes to see Romania and Bulgaria join the Union on 1 January 2007, in so far as
the conditions laid down in the Treaty of Accession are fulfilled by each of those two countries;

3.
Recalls the exchange of letters between the President of the European Parliament and the President of
the Commission on the full association of the European Parliament with any consideration of activation of
one of the safeguard clauses in the Treaty of Accession; notes that Parliament will take a position on these
issues and especially the timing of accession, in the light of the state of implementation of the necessary

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reforms,
in particular of the requirements of membership regarding the judiciary system and the fight
against corruption, and on the basis of the Commission's detailed assessment of the situation next spring;
therefore expects the Commission and Romania to work closely with Parliament in this regard;

4.
Also expresses its wish that the accession of Romania and Bulgaria should take place in solidarity,
while emphasising that the applications of both countries must ultimately be considered and evaluated on
their own merits;

5.
Points out that the reform effort that the Union has requested from Romania is in the interests of both
sides, enabling Romania to benefit fully from the advantages of accession and ensuring that accession takes
place in the best possible conditions;

Recognises Romania's significant contribution to the stability of the wider south-east European region

6.
and her continuing role in the promotion of regional security and prosperity;

Notes the assessment of Romania's preparations for accession as set out in the Commission's progress

7.
report, and shares its conclusions;

in that context:

— welcomes the significant advances, particularly in the fields of freedom of expression, justice, the inte-
gration of minorities, the protection of children, the restoration of property and competition policy;

— points out that efforts must be continued, particularly to complete the reform of public administration;
to ensure that the legal system functions properly; to place relations between citizens and institutions
on a sound and transparent footing; to combat crime and illegal trafficking; to move forward with the
integration of Roma; and to finish implementing the ‘acquis communautaire’;

— is concerned at persistent reports of ill-treatment by law-enforcement personnel, including excessive use
of force and use of lethal force, where many of the victims are Roma; calls on Romania to improve the
judicial review of such cases;

— is concerned at persistent delays in a number of areas, such as improving administrative capacity, com-
bating corruption and implementing the ‘acquis communautaire’ in certain areas of agriculture, public
procurement and the environment;

8.
Considers it as one of the highest priorities to combat corruption, particularly high-level corruption,
corruption at every level of the judiciary, law-enforcement agencies and the public administration, as well as
large-scale corruption, which must be pursued with determination at all levels, by rigorous enforcement of
the law and successful prosecutions as well as a proper understanding of the gravity of this problem and its
consequences;

9.

Points out that the Romanian external border will become an external border of the European Union;

10.
Stresses the need to continue reform of the legal system by complying with the objectives and time-
table set out in the Action Plan and ensuring, with the requisite financial and human resources, that it is
effectively implemented, particularly as regards combating illegal trafficking (especially drug trafficking and
trafficking in human beings), and by tightening up financial control;

Strongly encourages the Romanian parliament to adopt without delay the revised Penal Code pro-
11.
posed by the government, which aims at removing criminal defamation provisions and at bringing the code
into line with the legislation of all EU Member States;

Considers that the adoption by the Romanian parliament of the law on mediation would help to

12.
reduce the number of pending judicial cases;

13.
Also draws attention to the need to strengthen human and material resources with a view to substan-
tially improving the management and security of frontiers, in order to combat illegal trafficking, organised
crime and illegal immigration;

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Notes that, in spite of encouraging economic results, poverty remains widespread and the standard of

14.
living is still well below the EU average, necessitating further efforts to achieve cohesion and solidarity;

Considers it particularly urgent for action to be taken to strengthen the administrative capacity of the
15.
institutions and set up machinery for financial management and control, so as to enable the funding allo-
cated to be used in an effective and transparent way; strongly insists that concerted and sustained efforts still
need to be made towards administrative reform, which is key to the successful implementation of the ‘acquis
communautaire’;

16.
Recommends that pre-accession aid in agriculture and rural development should focus on the cre-
ation of partnerships for sustainable rural development programming including civil society, the public and
the private sector, especially by making use of the bottom-up method of the Leader approach, which is now
also available for pre-accession programmes;

17.
Asks the Romanian Government to make further efforts in the implementation of legislation on the
environment, and calls for consultation with neighbouring countries and vigorous application of standards
in the spirit of relevant EU proposals under consideration (e.g. the management of waste by extractive
industries), with special attention being paid to large-scale mining projects having substantial environmental
implications as in the case of Rosia Montana;

Refers to the disastrous effects of the floods in the summer of 2005, which were the heaviest for the
18.
last 100 years and temporarily affected more than 60 % of the country, causing severe damage and com-
pletely destroying the homes of many people in several regions; calls on the Commission to consider the
extent to which pre-accession assistance funds could be used to help those people and regions which have
been severely hit by the floods;

19.
Asks the Commission and the Council to support the Romanian Government in its efforts to protect
the unique environment of the Danube delta, which is part of a Unesco heritage site and which is now
endangered by the works that the Ukrainian authorities have restarted on the Bystroe branch;

Enjoins Romania to adopt and implement veterinary legislation, so as to safeguard food safety and

20.
prevent the transmission of animal diseases;

21.

Emphasises the need to speed up implementation of the law on the restitution of property;

Considers it equally urgent to implement the law on intellectual property, so as to prevent piracy and

22.
counterfeiting;

23.
Notes with satisfaction the improvements made by the Romanian authorities in the area of the
protection of children and urges the Romanian Government to settle the cases of applications for inter-
national adoption made during the moratorium of June 2001, ensuring that all cases are examined in the
light of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Romanian Law on the Legal Status of
Adoption, with the goal of allowing inter-country adoptions to take place, where justified and appropriate,
in those special cases;

24.
Draws attention to the urgent need to protect people with a learning disability whose living and care
conditions still are not satisfactory, in particular disabled persons with intellectual disabilities and mental
health problems living in residential care; calls for immediate action by the Romanian Government to dis-
mantle the large residential institutions for disabled persons in favour of smaller, community-based residen-
tial services with substantial earmarked funding support from the Commission; stresses however the vital
need to take all necessary measures to implement the 2002 Law on Mental Health and Protection of People
with Psychological Disorders;

25.
Notes that implementation of the anti-discriminatory laws and measures adopted by Romania on
behalf of the Roma is a step forward, but considers that the effort to achieve integration, particularly
through applying a policy of zero-tolerance on racism against Roma as well as ensuring better access to
quality education and the employment market, must be continued while making sure that the media are
fully involved;

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26.
Expresses its disappointment over the continued delay in the adoption of the law on minorities;
expresses disquiet that discriminatory measures are still contained in the electoral laws and repeated in the
draft law on minorities; wishes to see the law on minorities approved as soon as possible, respecting the
political criteria;

27.
Reiterates that additional measures need to be taken to ensure the protection of the Hungarian
minority in accordance with the principles of subsidiary and cultural autonomy; calls on the Romanian
authorities to fully sustain higher education for the Hungarian minority by providing the financial means
needed;

28.
Calls on the Commission to continue to monitor the preparations for accession with rigour and
objectivity and to help the Romanian authorities fulfil their commitments, while taking care to follow devel-
opments, not only in terms of commitments given but also in terms of their implementation at local level,
in the areas where changes have been requested in its previous reports;

Repeats its demand to be regularly informed by the Commission of its monitoring work and to be

29.
fully involved in the final decision on any use of the safeguard clauses;

Approves the Commission's approach, whereby the decision on whether to postpone the date of

30.
accession will be taken on the basis of the results obtained by Romania by the spring of 2006;

Reaffirms its wish, supported by a strong political will, to see Romania join the Union on 1 January
31.
2007, but points out that fulfilment of this aim depends first on the Romanian authorities' ability to fulfil
the commitments made in the Accession Treaty, failing which the safeguard clauses will be activated;

Calls on the Romanian authorities to make good in a satisfactory manner the shortcomings identi-

32.
fied, so as to enable Romania to accede in accordance with the intended timetable;

Calls on those Member States of the Union that have not yet done so to ratify as soon as possible

33.
the Treaty of Accession of Romania to the European Union;

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

34.
ments and parliaments of the Member States and of Romania.

P6_TA(2005)0532

Women's networks

European Parliament resolution on Women's networks:

fishing,

farming and diversification

(2004/2263(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provi-

sions on the Structural Funds (1),

— having regard to the innovative actions financed within the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance

(FIFG) on the basis of Article 22 of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999,

— having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 of 17 December 1999 laying down the
detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector (2),

— having regard to the conference on the role of women in the fisheries sector organised by the Com-

mission on 23-24 January 2003 in Brussels,

(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 337, 30.12.1999, p. 10.