Brussels, 19/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - The EP's foreign affairs committee on Thursday launched a serious warning to Romania, suggesting that the country's accession in 2007 will be "impossible" if the Romanian authorities do not manage to rectify their existing deficits in respect of the Copenhagen political criteria. But the report by Emma Nicholson (British Liberal Democrat) approved on Thursday morning unanimously does not, however, go as far as requesting the suspension of accession negotiations, as the rapporteur had called for over recent weeks but criticises the "unacceptable practices" for adopting Romanian children and the marked corruption still present in the private and public sectors in Romania. On Wednesday during the committee debate, several MEPs warned that if they used the "atomic bomb" against Romania, namely, the suspension of accession negotiations and the consequent risk of upsetting the accession deadline for 2007, efforts at reform could be weakened and produce results that are diametrically opposed to those sought.
The formulation of a compromise, which came out of the long debate (extended into Wednesday evening) is, however, pretty hard-line: the foreign affairs committee is recommending that the European Commission and the Council "reorientate" Romania's accession strategy and gives "full priority" to measures that should "guide" the country in respect of the political criteria, notably the establishment of a genuine state of law. The report "deplores" the fact that despite progress in certain areas, Romania has to make an effort to resolve the current serious difficulties in order to meet the political criteria of Copenhagen. It also asserts that it will be "impossible" for Romania to finalise negotiations in 2004 and join the EU in 2007 and as long as it has not fully implemented the following measures: measures and legislation for anti-corruption, creating an efficiently working independent judiciary; ensuring the freedom of the press by taking measures against intimidation and harassment of journalists; take measures against ill treatment in police stations; grant families affected by the moratorium (on international adoption of Romanian families) the right to obtain answers to their requests within the three years. On the subject of international adoption of children, the report is very critical: the European institutions have been misled on the procedures in which children are identified and recognised after being adopted. Parliamentarians also say they have evidence that many children had been away "against their will" from their families to families seeking to adopt children.
After the vote, the Romanian Ambassador to the EU, Lazar Romanescu, stressed that his government would make the necessary efforts to resolve the problems still pending ("We've understood the message") but he also said that he was relieved that despite the warning, the EP committee had not chosen to end negotiation procedures ("it is continuing as planned"), nor the accession timetable (2004 for the end to negotiations and 2007 for its entry).
The foreign affairs committee also adopted (unanimously without major amendments) Geoffrey van Orden's report on Bulgaria, as well as the report of its president Elmar Brok on the monitoring of the ten accession countries (three abstentions, not votes against). These reports will be voted on by the EP during the March plenary session