With the reports on Malta, Poland and Romania, EUROPE/Documents continues the publication (in French, English and German) of the official summaries of the reports adopted on 9 October by the European Commission on progress made by candidate countries toward EU membership. See also EUROPE/Documents No 2286/2287 and EUROPE/Documents No 2288/2289.
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MALTA
The Commission has repeatedly concluded that Malta fulfils the political criteria. This was the conclusion of previous Regular Reports, and has been confirmed over the past year. Malta continues to fulfil the Copenhagen political criteria.
Malta has taken further measures to improve the quality of the civil service as well as of the judicial system. Malta continues to respect human rights and freedoms. It has made further progress by improving its legal framework in the area of asylum, the fight against racism and the fight against trafficking in human beings.
Malta is a functioning market economy and it should be able to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union.
The 1999 update of the Opinion already acknowledged the economic reform efforts undertaken by the Maltese authorities to prepare for EU accession. Since the Opinion, the Maltese authorities' commitment to the economic requirements of EU accession has been sustained.
Further improvements can be made to macroeconomic management by reducing the general government deficit and reforming public expenditure to ensure medium-term fiscal sustainability. More progress can be made on restructuring large loss-making public enterprises and public utilities. Attention should be paid to the supervision of nonperforming loans in the banking sector.
Since the update of the Opinion in 1999, Malta has made considerable progress in aligning its legislation with the acquis and it has significantly improved its administrative capacity, particularly as regards free movement of goods, statistics, telecommunication, regional policy, justice and home affairs, and financial control. There has been progress, although uneven, in all other areas of the acquis.
Over the past year, Malta has made considerable legislative progress in the areas of freedom to provide services, environment and customs and further progress in other areas, particularly regarding free movement of goods, free movement of persons and statistics. It has continued to improve its administrative capacity, notably in the areas of standardisation and market surveillance, statistics, regional policy, justice and home affairs, customs and financial control. However, progress has been limited in the areas of agriculture, fisheries, transport and social policy.
Overall Malta has achieved a good degree of alignment with the acquis in many areas and is well advanced towards adequate administrative capacity to implement the acquis in many fields, although further efforts remain to be made, in particular as regards agriculture and environment. Detailed plans have been agreed, in particular in the negotiations and the Action Plans, to cover the remaining gaps.
In the field of the internal market, there has been considerable legislative progress on free movement of goods, and Malta has reached a high level of alignment with the acquis in this area. Malta must finalise the alignment of its public procurement legislation as regards the remedies system and bodies governed by public law. Its administrative capacity is broadly adequate in this area. As regards free movement of persons, there has been progress in adopting a legislative framework for the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, but alignment is still incomplete in the fields of citizens' rights and free movement of workers. Malta has continued to progress on free movement of services and capital, particularly as regards financial services and data protection, however further legislative alignment is needed in particular as regards the right of establishment and freedom to provide services. In the area of company law, there has been little progress over the past year and Malta still needs to transpose some directives on intellectual and industrial property rights in order to align fully with the acquis. As regards competition, Malta has made further progress in the enforcement of the State aid rules, but it still needs to adopt an appropriate framework for public undertakings. The compatibility of the aid granted to the shipyards needs to be ensured. The administrative capacity of the Competition Board and of the State Aid Monitoring Authority should reach a satisfactory level, provided efforts to strengthen them are continued.
In the field of taxation, Malta has achieved a high level of alignment as regards excise tax, but further alignment is needed as concerns VAT (scope of exempt transactions) and the code of conduct on direct taxation. The administrative capacity is on track to reach an adequate level as regards VAT and direct tax, but urgent efforts are needed as regards excise tax. In the area of customs, following the adoption of a new customs code, the Maltese customs legislation is now largely in line with the acquis, and the administrative
capacity is on track to fulfil the requirements in this area.
As regards transport, there has been little progress over the past year, and that mainly in the field of maritime transport. Malta still has to transpose considerable parts of the acquis. Following the implementation of the Maritime Action Plan by Malta, there has been an improvement regarding maritime safety but the administrative capacity needs to be further strengthened and efforts on maritime safety need to be pursued to achieve the objective of being removed from the Paris Memorandum of Understanding black list. The Maritime Action Plan has introduced some improvements in this area. Ongoing efforts must be pursued. In the field of energy, Malta progressed in transposing the acquis, in particular as regards energy efficiency. Recent progress, in particular on the internal energy market, needs to be sustained to align Maltese legislation in this area to the acquis. Administrative capacity needs to be further strengthened.
In the area of agriculture, there has been some legislative progress, but little progress as regards the administrative capacity. Malta has still to adopt considerable parts of the agriculture acquis. The capacity to enforce the acquis remains a source of particular concern in the area of agriculture and it should be strengthened as a matter of priority. In particular Malta must improve its administrative capacity to implement the Common Agricultural Policy and the EC rural development schemes and has to upgrade inspection arrangements in the veterinary and phytosanitary fields, as well as the border inspection arrangements. Steps have been taken for the setting up of the Integrated Administrative Control System and the Paying Agency, and funds have been committed to further strengthen the administrative capacity regarding rural development. However, a comprehensive plan to strengthen the administrative capacity in this area is still lacking.Ongoing efforts to reinforce administrative capacity and to continue the dismantling of levies should be vigorously pursued. As regards fisheries, Malta also needs to finalise the alignment of its legislation with the acquis and to implement fully its plans for substantial strengthening of its administrative capacity. Current plans to strengthen the fisheries department are steps in the right direction. Substantial further efforts are still required in this regard.
Malta has made some progress in the area of social policy, mainly as regards occupational health and safety. The alignment with the acquis is insufficient in the fields of labour law and equal opportunities. Malta is on track to achieve adequate implementation capacity for occupational health and safety, provided the current efforts are pursued, but a strengthening of the capacity regarding public health is needed. There
has been continued progress in the area of regional policy, where the overall framework is in place to implement the structural and cohesion funds, however Malta still needs to finalise its Single Programming Document. As regards the administrative capacity, some bodies involved in implementation need to be further strengthened. As regards the environment, there has been considerable legislative progress but Malta needs to stick to its tight schedule of alignment with the acquis. It should also significantly strengthen its administrative capacity in the field of environment, which remains very weak. It is crucial, to that purpose, that Malta implements its plan to increase the staffing of the competent bodies in this area considerably (mainly the Malta Environment and Planning Authority) and to reinforce its permitting and inspection practices. These plans need to be adhered to strictly.
Malta has reached a good level of alignment with the acquis in the field of telecommunications, although further alignment is still needed, and in culture and audiovisual policy, and its administrative capacity in these areas is broadly adequate.
In the field of justice and home affairs, there has been progress, in particular as regards the acquis on asylum, data protection, visa policy and money laundering, as well as with the adoption of a Schengen Action Plan and strengthening of the administrative capacity in the areas of border control and asylum. Malta has achieved a good level of alignment with the acquis but further progress is needed as regards immigration and judicial cooperation. The administrative capacity in this area is generally adequate, but the current plans to strengthen it in the fields of data protection, money laundering, asylum and border control need to be fully implemented.
In the field of financial control, the regulatory framework and the institutional capacity are broadly satisfactory and efforts need only focus on the finalisation of the arrangements regarding fight against fraud and protection of EC financial interests. In the statistics area, the administrative capacity is broadly adequate and Malta well on track to fully align its methodologies with EC standards, provided the current efforts continue.
Overall, provided Malta implements its plans to strengthen its administrative capacity as mentioned above, it should be able to ensure a reliable enforcement of the acquis and to participate adequately in the Union's policy-making processes. Malta's capacity to ensure sound, efficient and controllable management of EC funds is generally good and should be fully adequate once it has finalised its plans regarding the body in charge of fight against fraud and protection of EC financial interests.
In the accession negotiations, 25 chapters have been provisionally closed. Malta is generally meeting the commitments it has made in the negotiations. However delays have occurred in the areas of free movement of persons (citizens' rights and free movement of workers), fisheries (vessel monitoring, market policy), agriculture (establishment of the Paying Agency), transport (road and maritime transport) and social policy (labour law and gender equality). These issues need to be addressed.
Bearing in mind the progress achieved since the 1999 update of the Opinion, the level of alignment and administrative capacity that Malta has achieved at this point in time, and its track record in implementing the commitments it has made in the negotiations, the Commission considers that Malta will be able to assume the obligations of membership in accordance with the envisaged timeframe. In the period leading up to accession, Malta needs to continue its preparations, in line with the commitments it has made in the
accession negotiations.
POLAND
In its 1997 Opinion, the Commission concluded that Poland fulfilled the political criteria. Since that time, the country has made considerable progress in further consolidating and deepening the stability of its institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities. This has been confirmed over the past year. Poland continues to fulfil the Copenhagen political criteria.
The reinforcement of administrative capacity across the civil service is an important issue, recent developments have been mixed and further efforts are needed. In the area of public administration progress in the implementation of the 1999 Civil Service Law has been limited by the temporary suspension of the system of recruitment by open competition. It is essential that the pace of implementation, most notably with respect to recruitment, is accelerated so as to ensure that an independent, well trained and motivated civil service is in place by the time of accession.
Poland has made further progress in reforming the judiciary and in creating conditions to allow for a reduction in the most pressing bottlenecks. Efforts should now focus on ensuring that the progress to date delivers the desired result in terms of improved efficacy of the judiciary. Issues relating to judicial immunity are being addressed and should be followed up. Similar priority needs to be given to the training of judges, in particular in EC Law. While there have been ongoing efforts a sustainable structured programme of training needs to be put in place.
Corruption remains a cause for serious concern, a comprehensive strategy has been adopted to combat the problem. Substantial efforts are required to ensure concrete results, which to date have been limited, and in particular to develop a political, administrative and business culture which can resist corruption.
Poland continues to respect human rights and freedoms.
The 1997 Opinion already acknowledged the comprehensive reform efforts undertaken by the Polish authorities to transform their economy. Since the Opinion, and against a challenging international economic environment, economic performance has improved. Macroeconomic stability has been achieved, reforms have continued while the Polish authorities' commitment to the economic requirements of EU accession has been sustained.
Hence, it is concluded that Poland is a functioning market economy. The continuation of its current reform path should enable Poland to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union. Improvements can be made to fiscal policy through the implementation of the government's new expenditure norm at all levels of government as part of a more broadly based structural reform of public finances to support fiscal consolidation. Furthermore, restructuring and privatisation, mainly in heavy industry, the financial sector, energy distribution and agriculture, needs to be completed. In addition, bankruptcy procedures and the land registry call for further improvement. Finally, central bank independence must be preserved to ensure macroeconomic stability and investor confidence.
Since the Opinion, Poland's progress has been characterised by a slow start and a subsequent acceleration in respect of the adoption of legislation. As a consequence the vast majority of primary acquis is now in place, although in some sectors there are considerable gaps in the necessary implementing legislation, for example, in the veterinary, environment and food safety areas. There has been a knock on effect in terms of administrative capacity which has progressed since the Opinion, but not to the same extent as legislative alignment.
Over the past year, Poland has further advanced its alignment of primary legislation, notably in the areas of transport and free movement of persons. The performance in adopting implementing legislation has varied considerably between sectors. The development of administrative capacity has mirrored the progress of implementing legislation.
Overall, Poland has achieved a high degree of alignment with the acquis in many areas, and is well advanced with reaching adequate administrative capacity to implement the acquis in a number of fields, although further efforts remain to be made across the board with respect to administrative capacity, and in a number of sectors in particular with regard to alignment with the acquis. Detailed plans have been agreed, in particular in the negotiations and in the Action Plan, to cover the remaining gaps.
With regard to the internal market, in the area of free movement of goods considerable progress has been made over the last two to three years, notably by putting in place the framework legislation needed and by developing further the institutional infrastructure needed for its implementation. To date a high level of alignment has been achieved in relation to the primary legislation and administrative capacity has reached a reasonable level. Legislative developments in the area of market surveillance need to be built on through the development of the necessary administrative capacity. The area of food safety has not seen the progress in the adoption of implementing legislation identified as necessary in the last Regular Report and administrative capacity remains weak. Further work is also required to ensure the structures are in place to implement the public procurement acquis. In overall terms, a high level of alignment with the acquis has been achieved and a strong administrative capacity developed in the area of free movement of persons. In the field of free movement of services, there is generally a good level of alignment and sound administrative capacity. However, further efforts are required in aligning existing legislation concerning banking, insurance and securities. A course of action to resolve these difficulties has been agreed. Following the peer gropu review, Poland has produced an action plan but several problems such as discriminatory language requirements, problems with administrative structures and ensuring independent supervisory structures remain. Poland's track record in the free movement of capital has been one of steady progress, both in aligning its legislation and in developing the necessary administrative structures. Poland has to a large extent achieved alignment with the acquis in the area of company law, and gradual progress has been made with strengthening administrative capacity which has achieved a reasonable level, with the exception of intellectual property enforcement. Building up administrative capacity is essential if effective implementation is to be ensured. In the field of competition, legislative alignment is largely complete, although there remain some gaps on State aid, and efforts have focused on establishing a credible record of enforcement in the area of State aid. These efforts will need to be continued and intensified, with a specific and urgent focus on the restructuring of the steel sector where aid can only be given if an acceptable overall restructuring programme including necessary measures for reaching viability and necessary cuts in production capacity is reached.
In the telecommunications area, Poland has made steady progress since the Opinion in aligning with the acquis and liberalising its market. Implementation of the existing legislation has improved over the last year; further legislative alignment is awaited, as is the evaluation of the economic implications of full implementation of the universal service acquis.
With regard to EMU, alignment is almost complete, however the legislative amendment necessary to ensure the degree of independence of the National Bank as set out in the acquis remains to be undertaken.
There has been further progress in aligning rates of indirect taxation. In overall terms, Poland has achieved a reasonable level of alignment with the acquis and moderate development of the necessary implementing capacity. Significant further work is required to ensure that the systems are in place to allow for the exchange of computerised data between the EC and Poland by the date of accession. In the customs area the situation is similar, with a respectable record on alignment but a weaker one on administrative capacity.
The establishment of the necessary information technology infrastructure will require considerable further effort if the intended deadlines are to be respected. This will require an approach which gives urgent attention to accelerating the work on computerisation and interconnectivity and overcoming the disruption caused by the reorganisation of the central customs service. Steps have been taken to secure the necessary funding but this matter will need to be kept under close scrutiny and the Commission intends to report on progress at the end of the first half of 2003. Efforts should also focus on completing the alignment of Poland's customs legislation on that of the Community, in particular by adopting the amendment to the customs code which is currently under preparation.
Further transformation is needed, in terms of policy, legislation and structures in the agriculture sector, where the overall situation in terms of legislative alignment and in particular administrative capacity has been weak. There has been some progress with regard to primary legislation. In the veterinary sector the good work of the previous year has not been built on and requires urgent attention. There have been some efforts to address the considerable weaknesses in administrative capacity. However these will need to be intensified, in particular at the regional level, if they are to have any significant impact. Considerable further efforts are needed in upgrading establishments and ensuring that adequate inspection arrangements at the borders are in place. The Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) in particular must be in place, if Poland is to be in a position to effectively administer and control the CAP support schemes. This has been acknowledged through the efforts which the Polish authorities are undertaking. These need to be substantially stepped up.
In the fisheries sector, there has been a moderate degree of alignment. Some further legislative progress has occurred and there have been efforts to reinforce the administrative capacity at the central level, although the capacity at the regional level continues to be weak. Greater effort needs to be put into meeting the objectives set out in the Action Plan.
In the social field, the degree of alignment varies considerably between sectors. The capacity to implement the acquis has received some attention but this needs to be intensified. Additional efforts continue to be equired, in particular to further align and implement the EC labour law and the acquis on occupational health and safety. Adoption of the pending legislation would do much to further alignment in this area. There have been further developments with regard to legislation in the area of regional policy. Specific attention is required to carry through in a timely manner the implementation plans and further reinforce the administrative capacity including strengthening interministerial co-operation and partnership. To this end the objectives set out in the Action Plan should be realised as soon as possible. Particular attention needs to be paid to the technical preparation of projects eligible for Community funding. Existing implementation and administrative capacity plans, including the increase of personnel in the managing and paying authorities, should be implemented with due vigour.
In the area of environment, further progress has been made in terms of primary legislation, where there is a high level of alignment. The adoption and implementation of the necessary implementing legislation, and the accompanying administrative capacity, especially at the regional level, is required; given the limited strength of administrative capacity the implementation of the objectives set out in the Action Plan should be one focus of attention. Ensuring adequate investment, as set out in the environmental investment plans, is also essential.
The energy sector has a good level of alignment and the administrative capacity is adequate. Work to further align the existing legislation with the acquis is required, in particular on the internal energy market (notably gas). In the transport sector there is also a good level of alignment. The focus of attention should now be on putting in place the necessary implementing legislation and strengthening the administrative capacity to implement this legislation. The Action Plan sets out a range of objectives in this respect.
There has been further progress in justice and home affairs, especially with regard to the border guards and border management. There has been a continuation of efforts to improve the situation with regard to law enforcement bodies dealing with the fight against organised crime and drugs, in particular the police services. These need to be intensified and adequate resources, financial as well as human, allocated to implement the Schengen Action Plan and other strategies so as to ensure that the necessary administrative capacity is in place to implement the acquis. In overall terms alignment with the acquis is good but administrative capacity has not progressed to the same extent.
Further legislative progress has been noted in terms of internal financial control where there is now a reasonable level of alignment with the acquis. The challenge continues to be to put in place the necessary control mechanisms by completing alignment (PIFC and protection of EC financial interests), by completing and strengthening the required institutional structure, and by moving forward substantially on the management of preaccession funding and the establishment of the necessary structures and adequate administrative capacity for the implementation of the future structural funds, in particular regarding internal financial control. This will require the full and vigorous implementation of the Action Plan.
There continues to be some disparity between progress in the adoption of legislation and the reinforcement of administrative capacity. Continued efforts are needed to set up or strengthen administrative capacities across the board, notably on market surveillance, agriculture and food safety, fisheries and regional policy, the social field, environment, customs and justice and home affairs. Particularly close attention is required regarding the structures necessary to implement those parts of the acquis which will become applicable only from the date of accession, with a special focus on those parts which are essential for the sound and efficient management of EC funds.
In the accession negotiations, 27 chapters have been provisionally closed. Poland is generally meeting its commitments made in the negotiations. However, delays have occurred in the areas of agriculture (implementation of the animal identification and registration system), fisheries (adoption of legislation related to resource management, inspection and control, and in the area of market policy), environment (adoption of implementing legislation with regard to water quality, industrial pollution control and risk management, and chemicals). These issues need to be addressed.
Bearing in mind the progress achieved since the Opinion, the level of alignment and administrative capacity that Poland has achieved at this point in time, and its track record in implementing the commitments it has made in the negotiations, the Commission considers that Poland will be able to assume the obligations of membership in accordance with the envisaged timeframe. In the period leading up to accession, Poland needs to continue its preparations in line with the commitments it has made in the accession negotiations.
ROMANIA
In its 1997 Opinion, the Commission concluded that Romania fulfilled the political criteria. Since then the country has made progress in consolidating and deepening the stability of its institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities. This has been confirmed over the past year. Romania continues to fulfil the Copenhagen political criteria.
The launch of a major programme of administrative reform is an important development and ensuring the successful implementation of these reforms should be considered as a priority. Significant progress was also made with the decision to demilitarise the police. This will increase the public accountability of police officers - although further actions are needed to ensure the proportionality of their actions. New institutional structures have been created for fighting corruption, which remains a cause for very serious concern, but they have yet to have an impact.
Romania still needs to improve the decision making and legislative processes. In particular, the Government's reliance on emergency ordinances should be reduced and parliament's ability to scrutinise legislation increased. Reform of the judiciary has been limited. A lack of resources means that the judicial system is severely strained and the executive's involvement in judicial affairs has not been reduced in practice. In order to address these issues, judicial reform should be made a political priority and a comprehensive strategy to improve the functioning of the judicial system should be drawn up.
Romania continues to respect human rights and freedoms. It has made significant progress with child protection, reducing the number of children in residential care and improving actual living conditions. Progress has also been made in promoting equal opportunities between men and women, with developing structures to reduce trafficking in human beings and with setting up the institutional framework to fight discrimination. The development of a probation system has continued although prison conditions remain extremely poor. Additional steps need to be taken to strengthen safeguards for freedom of expression.
Positive developments took place with regard to the treatment of minorities. Legislation extending the official use of minority languages was implemented relatively smoothly. Important steps were taken to implement the National Strategy for Improving the Condition of Roma, with the aim of effectively combating discrimination and improving living conditions, although additional financial resources will be necessary to make further progress.
Romania has continued to make progress towards being a functioning market economy, for which the prospects have improved. Sustained and full implementation of planned measures together with the completion of the reform agenda should allow Romania to be able to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union in the medium term.
Some significant gains on macroeconomic stabilisation have been achieved over the last years. A more appropriate policy-mix is decreasing inflation, while growth has resumed and the external position remains sustainable. Considerable progress has been made on the creation of the necessary market institutions. The ongoing overhaul of the banking sector, the successive improvements in the supervisory and regulatory framework for the financial markets and the advances in privatisation have progressively tightened enterprises financial discipline. Price and trade liberalisation coupled, over the last year, with a significant adjustment of energy tariffs and important reforms of the tax system have set the stage for a more efficient allocation of resources. Restructuring is advancing in a number of sectors.
To build upon this progress, the authorities should give priority to establishing a track record on macroeconomic stabilisation grounded on further disinflation, by maintaining an appropriate policy mix and underpinning it with the enforcement of enterprises' financial discipline. Commitments to restrict the total wage bill in the public sector should be respected. The recent sharp growth in money supply and credit requires careful monitoring and a readiness to take prompt actions. Establishing enterprises' financial discipline requires improved tax administration and compliance, a consistent and transparent implementation of the latest measures to reduce the arrears of energy users, a determined and transparent use of the recently approved legal provisions for accelerating privatisation, and a readiness to liquidate loss-making enterprises. Completing privatisation in the banking sector, continuing the reform of public expenditures and budgetary procedures, and ensuring the implementation of improved regulatory and legal frameworks would also support the establishment of a functioning market economy and the development of Romania's capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union.
Since the 1997 Opinion, Romania has made steady progress with the adoption of the acquis. However, in many areas, there has been an increasing gap between progress in legal transposition and the limited ability of the Romanian administration to implement and enforce the newly adopted legislation.
Over the last year, Romania has accelerated the process of legislative transposition and has continued work, albeit at a slower pace, on developing the administrative structures required by the acquis.
Overall, and in view of Romania's target date for accession, Romania's progress has been reasonable and national legislation has been aligned with the acquis in many areas. Administrative capacity building will require a comprehensive, structural reform of both the public administration and the judicial system.
In the area of the internal market, framework legislation on the New and Global Approach has allowed accelerated alignment with the sector-specific acquis on free movement of goods. Considerable progress has also been made in the establishment of bodies to administer the acquis. Further efforts should concentrate on improving standardisation and certification, on reinforcing market surveillance systems, on restructuring the food control system, and on effectively implementing public procurement legislation. The foundations for future progress with the free movement of persons have been laid, although further transposition is necessary to address shortcomings in the area of mutual recognition and administrative capacity should be strengthened in all areas. Considerable efforts have been made to facilitate the free movement of services, although the newly developed institutional framework for supervising financial services still needs to be supported. Liberalisation has continued in the area of free movement of capital and Romania is committed to a timetable for dismantling exchange controls and other restrictions on capital movements. Further efforts are particularly needed to revise the legal framework in the area of money laundering. Romania has aligned with most of the acquis on company law, although the level of piracy and counterfeiting remains a serious problem and enforcement should be improved. In the area of competition policy, some progress has been made with the transposition of the acquis, mainly in the field of antitrust, but Romania's enforcement record in respect of both state aid and anti-trust needs to be improved. The restructuring of the steel sector will need to be closely monitored.
Romania has made steady progress towards alignment with the taxation acquis although further adjustments are needed and the ability to implement and enforce tax legislation remains limited. Despite a high level of harmonisation with the customs acquis, further legislative alignment is needed as are efforts to reduce levels of corruption within the customs administration. Work should continue on developing IT systems to allow the exchange of computerised data between Romania and the EC. In order to develop a successful industrial policy and to promote SME development further efforts are needed to simplify and stabilise the business environment.
Alignment with the acquis on agricultural policy has accelerated, although legislative developments have not yet been matched by the development of administrative structures able to effectively implement the acquis. Structural reforms have only been slowly introduced. Inspection arrangements should be improved in the phytosanitary sector and, even more urgently, in the veterinary sector. In the area of fisheries, Romania has adopted the necessary framework legislation, although there have been delays in the establishment of the required administrative structures.
On social policy and employment, some progress has been made but considerable further work remains on legal transposition in the areas of labour law, equal opportunities, and health and safety at work.
Progress with regional policy has been slower and Romania does not yet have a clear and consolidated cohesion policy. Work has begun on developing administrative capacity, but continued efforts are needed to design management and implementation systems.
Romania's progress in the transport sector has been mixed: good with regard to road and railway transport, reasonable in the area of aviation, but only limited in the case of maritime safety. The key issues facing Romania are developing institutions able to enforce recently adopted legislation and securing the funding to make the heavy investments required by the acquis. Despite progress in terms of legislative alignment, many structural issues still have to be addressed in the energy sector and new operating structures need to be consolidated. Despite having transposed a considerable amount of environmental legislation, Romania has neither the administrative nor the financial resources to implement it. Future efforts should focus less on legislative alignment and more on developing implementation capacities as well as securing resources for environmental investments. Alignment with the consumer protection acquis has continued and implementation structures are in place - although inter-institutional cooperation should be improved.
Steady progress has been made with aligning with the telecoms acquis and progress has been made with preparing for the liberalisation of the communications and postal markets. Future efforts should focus on developing the newly established regulatory administration into a truly efficient and independent body, and on the evaluation of the economic implications of full implementation of the universal service acquis.
Romania has started to make structural reforms in the area of justice and home affairs, although a considerable amount of work remains to be done on legal approximation and above all on strengthening administrative and judicial capacity. Despite recent reforms, including the adoption of a Schengen Action Plan, the efficiency of all police forces is limited and border infrastructure and management need to be improved. Major efforts are required to increase the efficiency of the judiciary.
In the area of external relations, trade barriers have been progressively eliminated, and Romania has achieved a generally high level of alignment with the acquis.
Progress has been made with regard to financial control and modern systems of financial management and control are being introduced. Further work is necessary to protect the Communities' financial interests, administrative capacity needs to be strengthened with regard to public internal financial control, and the independence of the Court of Audit should be guaranteed.
The overall capacity of the public administration to implement the acquis remains limited and represents a major constraint on Romania's accession preparations. While certain parts of the administration are able to function effectively there are many important sectors where the weakness of the administration is a serious cause for concern. These concerns extend beyond adoption of the acquis and also apply to the management of EC financial assistance. This issue is beginning to be addressed by the Government which has announced a major reform programme. However, these reforms are only at the design stage and still need to be carried out.
In the accession negotiations, 13 chapters have been provisionally closed. The commitments made in the negotiations are with a view to accession in 2007 and are generally being met.
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