Brussels, 19/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - The ninth EU/Romanian Association Council took place on Monday, at the sidelines of the General Affairs and External Relations Council. Present were Council President Giorgos Papandreou, Romanian Minister for Foreign Affairs Mircea Geoana, and the Enlargement Commissioner, Günter Verheugen, who indicated that Romania's accession procedure was "on the right tracks", and, whilst stressing the efforts still to be made, underlined "Romania's potential to fulfil its commitments". When asked about a date for Romania's accession, Mr Papandreou answered, "the sooner the better". The Romanian government's objective is "that the Commission's annual report (due to be published in November: Ed) recognises the efforts made, particularly at economic level", indicated the Romanian Minister for Foreign Affairs.
In its conclusions, the Association Council welcomed the signature by the ten future Member States of the Accession Treaty, and the statement by the European Council on its intention to make Romania a member of the EU in 2007, subject to progress made. With this in view, the Council welcomed the EU's commitment to help Romania, for example by increasing pre-accession aid. At political level, it affirmed that Romania has continued to fulfil the Copenhagen criteria, and noted recent developments (political pluralism, freedom of expression etc), but highlighted the fact that further progress is expected. Whilst welcoming the new anti-corruption legislation recently adopted, the Council asked the government to prioritise the implementation of this legislative package. It also noted progress made in the childcare sector, and child protection legislation, as well as measures taken on the protection of minority rights, particularly on improving the condition of the Roma, whilst stressing the importance of allocating appropriate resources. At economic level, the Commission welcomed the country's macroeconomic stabilisation, and Romania's co-operation with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. However, it highlighted the slowness of reform in certain key sectors. Furthermore, despite progress achieved in bringing Romania's legislation into line with the Community acquis, it needs to redouble its efforts to reinforce its administrative capacity, in order to avoid a large gap between the transposed legislation and its ability to apply it. To this end, the Council invited the government to adopt a global strategy to reform its administration, and to improve its capacity to manage its pre-accession funds. Lastly, the Council welcomed Romania's contribution towards regional stability and strengthening regional co-operation, notably via its participation in the Stability Pact for south-east Europe.