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Romania has traditional ties with the European Union. It was the only Eastern European country, which as early as the '70s developed a well defined legal framework in its relations with the European Community. In 1980, Romania had proceeded to officially acknowledge this economic organisation by signing the Agreement concerning the establishment of the Joint Romania-CEE Commission.

 

Romania - EU Association Agreement

The Association Agreement of Romania to the European Union (the European Agreement), signed on February 1, 1995, stated the legal and institutional frame work for the Romanian-European Community relations, having as main objective the preparation of Romania’s integration in the European Union.

Romanian's formal application for EU accession was submitted on June 22, 1995.

Romania's aspiration to join the European Union is the natural expression of its vocation as a democratic nation, deeply anchored by traditions, culture and civilisation in the single European space.

Romania's major objectives in the perspective of acceding to the European Community envisage:

  • consolidating of the political system and of the democratic institutions;
  • creating of an economic and social climate that would offer a maximum of benefits to its citizens;
  • improving the efficiency of market economy structures and mechanisms;
  • strengthening the political, economic and social co-operation with the European Union Member States and the candidate countries;
  • consolidating Romania's statute on the European and international scene, in terms of stability and security.

Meeting these objectives is a national goal and not mere premises for integration within the European structures.

Romania’s dialogue with the EU takes place within the framework of the Association Council and its bodies, the Association Committee and the sectorial Association Subcommittees, as well as the Joint Parliamentary Committee and the Joint Consultation Committee. The 8th meeting of the Association Council took place on March 12, 2002, when the Romanian side presented the current stage of the accession preparation for the positive evolutions registered after the 2001 European Commission Report, the evolution of the bilateral trade, the political-diplomatic relations with the neighbour states and Romania’s efforts to fight international terrorism.

The new institutionalised framework of the Romania-EU relations, together with the Europe Agreement, provided conditions for:

  • Romania's participation at all levels in the structured dialogue between Member States and Associated States (including meetings at heads of State/ Government level);
  • better conditions regarding the access on the Single Market of Romanian products by the alignment of our country, starting with January 1st ,1995, to the liberalisation calendar formerly applied exclusively to Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovak Republic; starting with January 1st ,1996, the European Union proceeded to the liberalisation of the commercial exchanges with Romania, by applying the asymmetric principle, which was stated in the Association Agreement;
  • the inclusion of our country in the infrastructure development projects (Trans-European Networks - transport, communications, energy );
  • Romania’s participation in various Community programs ( culture, research, education, vocational training, youth, energy, protection of the environment, small and medium enterprises);

The evolution of negotiations

On 13 October 1999, the Commission recommended Member States to open negotiations with Romania. The Helsinki European Council of 10/11 December 1999 has decided to begin negotiations with Romania. The negotiations were officially launched on 15 February 2000.

In 2000 (Portuguese and French Presidencies), 9 chapters have been opened and 6 chapters have been provisionally closed: 16 - Small and medium-sized enterprises, 17 - Science and research, 18 - Education and training, 26 - External Relations and 27 - Common foreign and security policy and 12 - Statistics.

In 2001 (Swedish and Belgian Presidencies) 8 chapters have been opened and 3 chapters have been provisionally closed: 8 – Fisheries, 23 - Consumers and health protection and 5 - Company Law.

In 2002 (Spanish and Danish Presidencies) the last 13 chapters have been opened and 7 chapters have been provisionally closed: 11- EMU, 13 – Social policy and Employment, 15 - Industrial policy, 19 - Telecommunications and IT, 20 – Culture and Audio-Visual, 25 - Customs Union and 30 - Institutions.

In 2003 (Greek and Italian Presidencies) 6 chapters have been provisionally closed: 1 – Free movement of goods, 2 - Free movement of persons, 4 – Free movement of capital, 9 – Transport, 10 – Taxation, and 28- Financial Control.

In 2004 (Irish and Dutch Presidencies) the last 9 chapters were closed: 3 – Freedom to provide services, 6 – Competition, 7 – Agriculture, 14 – Energy, 21 – Regional policy, 22 – Environment, 24 – Justice and Home Affairs, 29 - Financial and budgetary provisions and 31 - Others.

Romania has concluded the negotiations on 14 December 2004. The Accession Conference reached the overall final agreement over the closure of all the 31 negotiation chapters.

The European Council noted the closure of negotiations on 17 December 2004 and called for the finalisation of the Accession Treaty with Romania (and Bulgaria). The Treaty was signed on 25 April 2005 and, since then, Romania has an observer status in the Council and its preparatory bodies and participates in the process of drafting the communitarian legislation. The signature of the Treaty was followed by the process of its ratification by the Member States.

The European Commission released the latest Monitoring Report on Romania on 25 October 2005. The report states the progresses achieved by Romania and the fields requiring additional efforts. The next monitoring report is expected in May.

Until accession, Romania will continue its internal preparations according to the commitments undertaken during negotiations, focusing on the sensitive areas of Competition and Justice and Home Affairs, which are linked to the safeguard clauses included in the negotiation package.

After accession Romania will benefit of transition periods for specific issues in 8 chapters: 3 – Free movement of services, 4 – Free movement of capitals, 6 – Competition Policy, 7 – Agriculture, 9 - Transport Policy, 10 - Taxation, 14 – Energy and 22 – Environment.

Romania is expected to become member of the European Union in January 2007.

Principles and Procedures

To become a member state of the European Union, Romania must fulfill the Copenhagen accession criteria and align itself with the EU legislation and policies (the so-called "Community acquis").

The accession negotiations established the conditions under which the Community acquis is applied in Romania, before and after accession (along the transition periods agreed during negotiations – that is temporary exceptions from the application of a specific requirement of European legislation) and the way in which Romania will participate in the institutions and the budget of the Union.

For practical reasons EU legislation is divided into 30 negotiation chapters, each of them covering particular policy area, plus chapter 31– Miscellaneous negotiated at the end, which covers other aspects of negotiations. Negotiations are considered finalised only after all the chapters are closed ("nothing is agreed until everything is agreed"). Until then, negotiation chapters can only be considered "provisionally closed". A candidate country may reopen any negotiation chapter if EU legislation has been modified and the candidate country cannot apply the legislation by the time of its accession and asks for new transition periods and if the initial situation in a candidate country has changed and a different approach of a particular chapter has been requested. The EU may ask for the reopening of a chapter if the candidate state does not fulfil its commitments (e.g. if it fails to implement a law by the agreed deadline) as well as for demanding new transition periods or renegotiate those already agreed.

In 1997 the Council agreed on the negotiations procedure for the fifth enlargement of the EU with twelve countries, including Romania. The Accession Intergovernmental Conferences for each candidate country have met in sessions held at the level of ministers or deputies, i.e. permanent representatives, for the Member States, and chief negotiators for the applicants.

The negotiations with each applicant proceeded on their own merits. The pace of each negotiation depended on the degree of preparation by each applicant country and the complexity of the issues to be resolved.

The Commission proposed common negotiating positions for the EU for each chapter and the negotiating positions aware approved unanimously by the Council.

Each stage in the negotiations (e.g.: the opening of a chapter, provisional or partial closure) is formalised by the Accession Conference.

The opening of a chapter of negotiations is subject to the candidate country having reached a certain level of adoption of the Community acquis, as well as appropriate plans for the implementation of the rest of the acquis in the future.

Closing a negotiation chapter supposes significant progress in the adoption of the acquis, the existence of the "administrative capacity" (institutions with adequate human and financial resources) to properly implement and/or monitor de application of legislation and credible and thorough commitments for the transposition and implementation of the rest of the acquis.

The results of the negotiations are incorporated in the Accession Treaty. This is submitted to the Council for approval and to the European Parliament for assent. After signature, the accession treaty passes to the member states and to the applicant countries for ratification involving, in some cases, referenda. It takes effect, and the applicant becomes a member state, on the date of accession.

 

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