Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-04-26-Speech-3-044"
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"en.20060426.10.3-044"2
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".
First of all I would like to thank Commissioner Rehn and the officials DG Enlargement for the serious and assiduous way in which they have been guiding and monitoring Bulgaria’s progress towards accession. It is important that we get this right, both for the sake of the people of Bulgaria and for our own citizens. It would be unfortunate if there were any cooling of enthusiasm for enlargement at this stage. It would be quite wrong if the prospects of Bulgaria and Romania were damaged because of any mood change. After all, these countries complete the previous round of enlargement, the EU’s fifth round, and are not part of the next.
The Accession Treaty signed by Bulgaria and Romania on 25 April last year, and already ratified by 15 EU Member States, deliberately contains various sorts of what might be called ‘conditionality’. First there is the possible postponement clause allowing accession to be delayed by one year in very extreme circumstances. This is of course a political judgement. In my view, the consequences of postponement would be entirely negative: a slap in the face rather than encouragement; a bad signal to the Bulgarian people. It would encourage extremist forces and shake business confidence, and nothing would be achieved that cannot be achieved by other means.
Secondly, there are separate thematic safeguard clauses. These were also included in the accession treaties of the last ten countries that joined the European Union. They are for possible use once accession has taken place. Two of them relate to economic and internal market aspects, the third to the justice and policing system, combating organised crime and corruption. This is perhaps the area of greatest concern and the focus of the oral question. There are of course other areas that need serious attention, not least the situation of children in care, the integration of the Roma and animal health and welfare controls.
In terms of justice and home affairs I do not think we should be looking for a harmonised system across the European Union. That is generally undesirable, but in any case, what model would we take? But we do want a structure and process that give confidence and deliver the right outcome.
Among other developments in Bulgaria there is now a new penal code, a new chief prosecutor, constitutional changes have been passed that allow the easier lifting of immunities, and the Judicial System Act is going through Parliament. But it is concrete results that we want, not just legislation. Yes, these have been a long time coming – too long perhaps – but they are there now. The clear-up rate for general crime in Bulgaria bears comparison with that in many current EU Member States. For example, the crime rate is lower than in Germany, the detection rate higher. We should recognise that Bulgaria and Romania are being subjected to an unparalleled degree of scrutiny. There is much still to be done and the process of reform will continue for many years.
The Commission should be prepared to give a clear signal to the Council: take the decision in June for accession on 1 January 2007; take the decision in December, in the light of further progress by the Bulgarian authorities and in cooperation with them, on any monitoring and other safeguard measures that may be necessary. At the end of the day, what is important is that the people of Bulgaria should have confidence in their administration and justice system."@en1
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