Romanias EU Negotiations [625892]

Romania’s EU Negotiations
Modelling New Europe

Student: [anonimizat] 3
Negotiations and Timeline ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………. 4
Conclusions ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………….. 5
References ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………… 6

Introduction

First o f all, there is a treaty clause in place which addresses the issue of enlar gement . Since
the creation of th e European Union, article 237 of the 1957 Treaty of R ome opened the possibi lity for
any European country to ap ply for EU membership. Moreover, the Treaty of Amsterdam stated that
states who wish to join the block must adhere to several princip les, including : democracy, rule of law,
liberty, and respect of human rights and freedoms .
According to the European C ommission, t he accession criteria are the first step towards the
integration in the EU. These were defined in Copenhagen in 1993, at a European Council meeting,
and are know under the name of ‘Copenhagen Criteria ’. They include a number of democratic,
economic and political conditions for applying c ountries, a s follows:
– stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for
and protection of minorities ;
– a functioning market economy and the capacity to cope with competition a nd market
forces in the EU ;
– the ability to take on and effectively implement the obligations of membership, including
adherence to the aims of political, economic and monetary union
The main steps for the EU accession include submitting an application to the Council,
receiving a positive opinion from the European Commission, going through accession negotiations
and receiving a unanimous decision by the rest of the Member States to accept the appl icant.
The negotiations for entering the block consist in the debate of several issues in relevant
domain s. Among the most important issues negotiated between the parties there are: the free
movement of goods, the free movement of persons, the freedom to provide services, the free
movement of capital, the company law, the compe tition policy, agriculture, transport policy,
taxation, energy, industrial policy, science and research, culture, education, environment and many
more.
Romania was the first country of post -communist Europe to have official relations with the
European Community. A treaty from 1974 included the Eastern European country in the
Community's Generalized System of Preferences. After the 1989 Revolution , membership of the EC
(which b ecame today ’s EU), had been the main goal of every Government and political party in
Romania. Furthermore, Romania and Bulgaria represent the fifth enlargement of the European
Union.

Negotiations and Timeline

The commencement of the accession negotiations happened in 1993, when Romania
finalized the Association Agreement with the European Union, the legal basis for the relationship
between the EU and Romania , with the purpose of establish ing the legal and institutional
frameworks of relations with the E uropean Union.
In 1993, Romania along with Bulgaria signed agreements on tougher conditions compared to
other appl ying states. Four years later, in 1997, Romania and Bulgaria were excluded from the
Luxembourg group that opened membership talks , which inclu ded Poland, Hungary, the Czech
Republic, Estonia and Slovenia. The two Eastern European Countries were in vited to start accession
negotiations only in 2000. Within the Laek en European Council meeting from 2001, it became clear
the two countries were not going to join the block along with the other states.
On 01 Feb 1995, the Association Agreement entered into force, and on June 22, Romania
submitted the Application for EU Accession, annexing the National Strategy for Preparing Romania's
Accession to the European Union. Along with its official EU application, Roma nia submitted the
Snagov Declaration, signed by all fourteen major political parties declaring their full support for EU
membership. In 1998, the first ever annual report drafted by the EC on Romania’s accession request
is published. (European Commission, Eurostat)
In 1999, Romania submits the National Program for Accession in the EU , followed by the
decision in Dec 1999 of the European Council in Helsinki to start the negotiations for accession.
During the 2000s, the Romanian state impleme nted a series of reforms in preparation for EU
accession, including the consolidation of its democratic systems, the institution of the rule of law, the
acknowledgement of respect for human rights, the commitment to personal freedom of expression,
and the impl ementation of a functioning free -market economy.
The accession negotiations came to an end on 08 Dec 2004 . The EU was set to continu e to
monitor the preparations for accession and stated that Romania will be able to assume its
membership obligations from 01 Jan 2007.
On 13 Apr 2005, the European Parliament adopted the final resolution on Romania’s
accession into the block starting with 01 Jan 2007. A t Luxembourg's Neumuenster Abbey , on 25 Apr
2005, Romania n President Traian Basescu signed the Treaty for Accession in the European Union
together with Bulgaria’s PM Simeon de Saxe -Coburg and representatives of the EU -25. Starting that
day, Romania had the status of supervisor on European Institutions’ activity.
On 25 Oct 2005, the European Commission published the first Comprehensive Monitorization
Report for Romania, in which it epitomizes the progress achieved in the internal prepara tions. On 16
May 2006, a new such report is published, which states that the number of domains under serious
observation declined from 14 to only 4. (Scurt istoric al negocierilor Uniunea Europeana ,
adrnordest.ro)
The last instrument of ratification of the Treaty of Accession was deposited with the Italian
government on 20 December 2006 thereby ensuring it came into force on 1 January 2007.

The starting point for accession negotiations was the acquis communautaire1, which has
been divided into 31 chapters . The negotiat ions were opened on the easier chapters , namely SMEs,
Science and Research, Education and Training, External Relations, CFSP . The most controversial
chapters, l ike t hose with financial implications, or the one regarding the free movement of people
were opened at the end, during the hot phase of the di scussions. A great part of the chapters were
closed provisionally , after the majority of issues were settled, despite so me sensitive points having
remained undecided. The accession negotiations were carried under two basic principles,
differentiation and catching up .
In January 2004, Emma Nicholson (the EU ’s rapporteur ) proposed that Romania ’s accession
negotiations should be suspended, on the grounds of the breach of the political criteria . However,
her recomme ndation was not endor sed by the Foreign Affairs Committe.
Negotiations did not cover the acquis per se , but rather the terms under which countries
would implement the EU legislation. 2
The low level of economic devel opment along with the dual character of accession talks
represent the main reasons for which negotiations on chapters with financial imp lications were
highly disputed. Negotiations on the respective chapters were delayed in the beginning of 2004, due
to discussions on the 200 7-2013 global EU budget. Despite the setback, the EC successfully managed
to separate the two issues . On 22 March 2004, a financial package for Romania and Bulgaria was
agreed upon by the General Affairs and External Relations Council , represeting the budget for the
two countries for the period 2007 -2009, in total am ount of EUR 11.6bn , out of which EUR 8.3bn were
allocated for Romania.
In the month of October, year 2004, after the negotiations have been concluded, the
European Commission concluded in its opinions that both Romania and Bulgaria respected the
political criteria for accession and were anticipated to me et economci and legal requirements by 1
Jan 2007 , thus annou ncing the formal end of the negotiations.
The 31st chapter, Miscellan eous , consisted of the formation of a cash -flow and Schenge
facilities to boost Romania ’s budgetary position during the first three years following the inclusion in
the EU . Consequently, the Eastern European country receiv ed around EUR 560mn from th e two
facilities, while also being financed with a EUR 52mn tr ansition facility for institution building projects
and limited small scale investments .

Conclusions

The negotiation process was lengthy and strenuous, but was finally categorized as a success,
while the accession in the EU received wide appreciation from the Romanian people and media. The
term negotiations might appear misleading since the only negotiable aspect is the t imeframe for
applying the non-negoti able acquis . The Copenhagen criteria remain the cornerstone for accession in
the Europea n Union, but were proved they do not represent a consistent set of requirements .

1 the accumulated legislation, legal acts, and court decisions which constitute the body of European Union law
2 A Inotai, “Some Key Issues in Understanding the Negotiations on Accession to the European Union” (2001)
122 Hungarian Academy of Science Working Paper 18 -20.

References

– https://www.adrnordest.ro/user/file/romania %20eu%20members/1_%20Scurt%20istori
c%20al%20negocierilor%20UE%20 -%20Romania.pdf
– https://www.dw.com/ro/privatizarea -bcr/a -2633230
– https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood –
enlargement/sites/near/files/archives/pdf/result_of_neg_final_council_version_st05859
_0405_en.pdf
– https://www.europarl.europa.eu/enlargement/briefings/3a1_en.htm
– https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_06_1900
– https://europa.eu/european -union/about -eu/countries/member -countries/romania_en
– https://ceswp. uaic.ro/articles/CESWP2010_I1_INC.pdf
– https://www.mae.ro/sites/default/files/file/userfiles/file/pdf/chronology_romania_ue.p
df
– https://www.untrr.ro/info -untrr -anul -ii-nr-6-16-iunie -2005/aderarea -rom-226niei -la-
uniunea -europeana.html
– file:///E:/Facultate/Master/An%20II/Sem%20I/Modelling%20new%20Europe/CYELP_vol_
2_15_Nikolova.pdf