NationStates Jolt Archive

Kind of. It seems that Romania and Bulgaria are comming to an EU near you in 2007 :D



EU approves Bulgaria and Romania

Bulgarians say what EU membership will mean for them.

The European Commission has announced that Romania and Bulgaria will be admitted to the EU in January 2007, but under strict conditions.

Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said both countries had made enough progress to join the union.

But they will be checked for progress in curbing organised crime and corruption, and ensuring food safety and the proper use of EU funds.

Bulgaria's PM said the move was the fall of the Berlin Wall for his nation.

Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said his people should be proud of themselves, but should not make the mistake of thinking that accession would mean all the country's problems would be solved.

The conditions are tougher than those imposed on previous new members, observers say.

The BBC's Oana Lungescu in Strasbourg says they are intended both as a reassurance for EU citizens, only half of whom support further enlargement, and as a warning to Turkey and the Balkan nations still lobbying for EU membership.

Concerns remain

The commission's report confirms that after seven years of talks, Bulgaria and Romania are able to take on the rights and obligations of EU membership.

Bulgaria and Romania have made further progress... demonstrating their capacity to apply EU principles and legislation from 1 January 2007

Reading the report, Mr Barroso said the two nations' entry would be a "historic achievement".

"Bulgaria and Romania have carried out an extraordinary reform process and they have gone through a remarkable transformation," he said.

The two countries missed out on the EU's big eastward expansion in 2004.

Correspondents say they will be delighted that they can get in on schedule before Mr Barroso puts a block on further expansion.


"This is the genuine and final fall of the Berlin Wall for Bulgaria," said Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev.

But the commission president said there were a number of areas where further progress was needed in the months leading to accession and beyond.

Unless Bulgaria cracks down on organised crime, legal decisions taken by its courts could be disregarded in the rest of Europe.

Both countries will have to report every six months on progress in fighting corruption.

Graph showing wealth of Bulgaria and Romania

By March, they also need to set up agencies to handle millions of euros worth of EU farm aid, or risk losing a quarter of the cash.

Both will face food export bans due to outbreaks of animal diseases like swine fever, while Bulgarian planes could be banned from flying into EU airspace until the country improves its air safety standards.

There could also be restrictions on migration to other EU countries for up to three years.

An EU official said the commission did not want to punish Bulgaria and Romania, but to make them work harder to carry out reforms.

Mr Barroso said on Monday the EU could not go on with further expansion until it decided what to do about its stalled constitution.

The rules of the European club can currently cope to 27 members at most, though experts say they could be tinkered with to squeeze Croatia in before a major treaty change.

"It would be unwise to bring in other member states apart from Romania and Bulgaria," he said on Monday.

"There are some limits to our absorption capacity."

For me, as an american, its exciting to see this collosus the EU expanding. I, of course, like the idea of the EU. What do you Europeans feel about adding two more members?

When are they finally going to accept Turkey?

I think we're going to see the more liberal parts of Europe understanding the more liberal parts of America much better.

The Scandinavian nations are very liberal. Eastern Europe nations tend to be more conservative. Depending on what kind of union the EU becomes (ie, if they adopt a constitution), the Scandinavians will find themselves being held back by the more conservative nations, much as the more liberal regions of the Northeast and west coast are held back (socially) by the more conservative midwest and south.

I hope the EU forms into a superpower. Just so we can sit back and snidely bitch how they don't do everything for us for a change.

I hope the EU forms into a superpower. Just so we can sit back and snidely bitch how they don't do everything for us for a change.

I hear ya there. Im tired of being a superpower.

Well, I think, they should solve some problems first before expanding the EU. The EU need a new, efficent constitution which can handle such a big amount of states. At the moment, the European government has one minister for every country in the EU. This means, there are over 20 ministers now! And there are other similar problems

And the second problem are the big economical differences between the new and the old countries. The people in Romania earn less in a month than the people in Germany or France in a day. This is something you can't really ignore. Total free trade on such a base can be bad for both sides.

Look at the Polonian-German border. Many Germans living near the border are going shopping in Polonia, where the prices are much lower. So the economy in these regions - which was never really good - broke down totally.

And at the Polonian side, the prices rise, but not the wages. The Polonians living there can't afford these prices anymore.

You only have 27 "states", economic issues will sort themselves out fairly quickly. Within 10-20 years I'd imagine, probably not nearly that long.

You only have 27 "states", economic issues will sort themselves out fairly quickly. Within 10-20 years I'd imagine, probably not nearly that long.
Bear in mind that your states are all fairly similar; they don't all have different languages, different currencies (before the Euro, at any rate, and that's hardly omnipresent), and a history of being at war with each other for over a thousand years. Those kinds of things tend, in some circles, to lead to a degree of resentment and un-co-operation.

Considering how long the EU's been around it's amazing how far it's got.

Personally, however, I'm indifferent to who's in or out of it.

When are they finally going to accept Turkey?


When they become part of Europe...So, never.

When they become part of Europe...So, never.
http://www.world-atlas.us/europe-map.gif

It looks close enough for me, I say let them in. Besides, I love Turkey. Well, I've never actually been there. But I love my local Turkish resturaunt. :D

When are they finally going to accept Turkey?


yeh, i want turkey in the eu. it's as much part of europe as russia is and, while i know russia isn't and probably won't ever be in the eu, no-one really sees russia as asian. the only reason people don't like the idea of turkey being part of the eu is because they're not slavic, germanic or celtic and they're not recognised as one of the countries where 'classical' 'civilisations' were. oh, and they're, shock horror, muslims!! :eek: . nobody thinks about the gallicians being celts (gallicia is in turkey) or about the fact that turkey had 'civilisations' in it which were arguably the precursors to the classical civilisations of greece and rome and that lot. anyway, who doesn't want more kebabs? i know i do. if they can be included in the eurovision song contest they can be included in the eu i say. :P

Bear in mind that your states are all fairly similar; they don't all have different languages, different currencies (before the Euro, at any rate, and that's hardly omnipresent), and a history of being at war with each other for over a thousand years. Those kinds of things tend, in some circles, to lead to a degree of resentment and un-co-operation.

Considering how long the EU's been around it's amazing how far it's got.

Personally, however, I'm indifferent to who's in or out of it.

No, our states are just made up of members from all of those various nations. They were in the beginning, you know, and we manage. Hell, I'd hardly call all of our states similar--in certain ways, anyway--yet we still manage. I don't think the EU would have too much difficulty as more time passes. I sure hope the EU continues and becomes much like the U.S. in terms of unity.

I hope the EU forms into a superpower. Just so we can sit back and snidely bitch how they don't do everything for us for a change.

You were a few centuries back.

I think we're going to see the more liberal parts of Europe understanding the more liberal parts of America much better.

The Scandinavian nations are very liberal. Eastern Europe nations tend to be more conservative. Depending on what kind of union the EU becomes (ie, if they adopt a constitution), the Scandinavians will find themselves being held back by the more conservative nations, much as the more liberal regions of the Northeast and west coast are held back (socially) by the more conservative midwest and south.

... a common misconception. I know from experience that Romania is, at least in urban areas (although not so much in rural areas), far more liberal and socially permissive than Britain (i have lived in both countries).
And then what was that i heard about all the feminist hype in Sweden (i do assume we are talking about Sweden here, since Norway isn't in the EU)? you will not get something like that in Eastern Europe... if communism did something good then that would be that it killed gender and class exploitation (although social stratification is becomming more and more obvious now after 16-17 years) so from that point of view Eastern Europe is more liberal, as it lacks some prejudice you get in the West.

The EU is evil. As is the UN and the U.S.. Yeah, I said it. We're evil. But the devil you know...

... a common misconception. I know from experience that Romania is, at least in urban areas (although not so much in rural areas), far more liberal and socially permissive than Britain (i have lived in both countries).
And then what was that i heard about all the feminist hype in Sweden (i do assume we are talking about Sweden here, since Norway isn't in the EU)? you will not get something like that in Eastern Europe... if communism did something good then that would be that it killed gender and class exploitation (although social stratification is becomming more and more obvious now after 16-17 years) so from that point of view Eastern Europe is more liberal, as it lacks some prejudice you get in the West.
Yeah, I was commenting mostly on sweden...and no, it isn't in everything, or every country/every part of every country...But a nation like Poland or Italy is far more conservative than Sweden as far as things such as gay rights are concerned, and the like.