Date: 20 April 2004

Speaker: H.E. Lazar Comanescu, Head of the Mission of Romania to the European Union

 
Prior to starting the presentation, Mr Comanescu thanked CEPS for the invitation and expressed his satisfaction with the fact that this invitation comes ten days before one of the most important moments in the history of Europe.
 
The Head of the Romanian Mission to the EU congratulated the ten newcomers who have shown their ability to contribute to the reunification of Europe. Such an event also calls for celebrations, which will take place in Ireland as of the 1st of May. Mr Comanescu pointed to the fact that Bulgaria and Romania will also participate in the celebrations, which is a proof that both countries are part of the same process (of reunification).
 
Mr Comanescu mentioned several major events that will take place in the coming months within the European Union: the May 1st accession of ten new members, the June European Parliament elections and the upcoming intergovernmental conference (IGC). Despite these major developments which require the EU’s full attention, the negotiations with Bulgaria and Romania are moving ahead as planned. This is reflected, for instance, by the fact that the financial package for Romania will soon be put forward to the Council, as envisaged by the timetable for the negotiations established at the December 2003 European Council Summit.
 
Mr Comanescu stated that whilst he has reasons to be optimistic about his country’s accession prospects, it is important to remain pragmatic and realistic. To those who question the 2007 deadline for Romania’s accession, Mr Comanescu puts forward a different approach: he proposes to view the still remaining three and a half years leading to Romania’s accession as an opportunity for Romania to draw on the pre- and post-accession experience of the ten new members. In this time-span, Romania can also be assisted by the new members to better manage its own problems related to the implementation of the acquis.
 
By mid-2005, Romania and Bulgaria will have signed their accession treaties, enabling them to participate in all EU meetings and decision-making structures. The Romanian Ambassador sees this as a very important aspect of Romania’s learning process. This will also help to alleviate the fears that a EU with 25/27 members will be permanently deadlocked.
 
Mr Comanescu envisages the timetable for Romania’s accession to the EU as follows: the accession negotiations will be completed and the eight remaining chapters closed by the end of 2004. This will be complemented by the signature of the accession treaty by mid-2005 and will culminate in Romania’s accession to the EU in 2007. However, Mr Comanescu claims that there still are a lot of things to be done and that Romania is keenly aware of this.
 
Last month’s report by the European Parliament on Romania’s progress towards accession contained some severe criticism but also certain encouraging elements of the latter which were largely ignored by the Western and Romanian press. According to Mr Comanescu, the EP report should be viewed as a friendly message calling for improvement and constitutes a strong reiteration of EU support for Romania’s efforts. Mr Comanescu reminded the audience that the EP report states that the improvements have to be made within the established timeframe by 2007 and with the help of the EU.
 
The Romanian Ambassador does not doubt Romania’s ability to meet the 2007 deadline, which he believes has been chosen because it is a realistic one. So far, the 2007 deadline has not been called into question officially and there is no reason for a pause in the enlargement process after the 1st of May. Furthermore, Mr Comanescu reminded the audience that any European country that fulfills the Copenhagen criteria can accede to the EU.
 
Mr Comanescu further stated that the Romanian political class is strongly determined to proceed with the reform of the judiciary and the public administration and to upgrade the economic reform to allow the country to move towards a functioning market economy. For the judiciary reform, the Romanian government is planning to adopt three key laws, which will first undergo a large process of consultation with professional organisation, NGOs, foreign advisers and EU institutions. These laws are expected to be adopted by the end of June 2004. A similar legislative package will be adopted to create the necessary framework for regulating child adoptions.
 
According to Mr Comanescu, corruption is also being tackled head-on by the Romanian government and despite the fact that things have started moving, a lot of progress still needs to be made. The Ambassador gave the particular example where several heads of counties (judete) in Romania have recently been removed from office on grounds of suspicion of corruption, in an attempt to eradicate corruption in society at large.
 
The Head of the Romanian Mission to the EU stressed the fact that the time has come for Romania to show more credibility and to demonstrate that it can achieve top marks without being hindered by its previous weak record. Eight chapters still need to be negotiated and closed before the end of 2004. Mr Comanescu stated that there is no reason for panic since this situation is fairly similar to the one in which certain acceding members found themselves in 2002. In his view, it is not numbers that matter, but rather the preparation of the government. Romania is not asking for any favours in the negotiation process and wants to be judged on its own merits. Mr Comanescu believes that if Romania is ready there should be no obstacles to closing the negotiations by the end of 2004 and proceeding with accession in 2007.
 
Read the full text of Ambassador Comanescu’s speech.