17. ROADMAPS FOR BULGARIA AND ROMANIA
(23982)
14306/02
COM(02) 624
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Commission Communication: "Roadmaps for Bulgaria and Romania."
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| Legal base: | —
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| Document originated: | 13 November 2002
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| Deposited in Parliament: | 19 November 2002
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| Department: | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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| Basis of consideration: | EM of 4 December 2002
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| Previous Committee Report: | None
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| To be discussed in Council: | Copenhagen European Council 12/13 December 2002
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| Committee's assessment: | Politically important
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| Committee's decision: | Cleared
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Introduction
17.1 The Brussels European Council in October expressed
its support for Bulgaria and Romania in their efforts to achieve
membership in 2007. The Council agreed with the European Commission's
assessment of Bulgaria and Romania in its 2002 Regular Reports
on progress, and invited it, in close consultation with the two
applicants, to prepare detailed roadmaps, including timetables,
and proposals for increased pre-accession assistance. These will
be put before the Copenhagen European Council on 12-13 December
for agreement.
The document
17.2 The roadmaps describe the reforms that need to be
undertaken by Bulgaria and Romania in order to achieve their objective,
and set out a timetable. They provide benchmarks against which
economic reform and commitments made in the course of the accession
negotiations will be monitored and are based on the principle
that progress in the negotiations is largely determined by the
progress made by the applicants in putting into place and implementing
the necessary reforms.
17.3 The key elements are:
- a particular focus on the importance of administrative
and judicial reform. The Commission says that all areas of
the acquis will benefit from accelerated progress;
- as suggested in its October strategy paper, the Commission
proposes that financial assistance to Bulgaria and Romania
should be increased considerably and linked to progress in implementing
the roadmaps and to the applicants' absorptive capacity. It proposes
that:
(1) a phased increase in financial assistance should be given
to both applicants of up to 40% between 2004 and 2006, based on
the average they received between 2001-2003; and
(2) distribution of the support from existing instruments
for pre-accession assistance (Phare, ISPA and SAPARD) should reflect
the specific needs of Bulgaria and Romania and their absorptive
capacity. The areas in which they have a high level of need are:
- agricultural and rural development,
- transport and environment infrastructure,
- economic and social cohesion,
- investment and institution-building related to the implementation
of the acquis.
- continued monitoring of implementation of commitments
made in the negotiations and of economic reform, against the roadmaps
and the provisions of the revised Accession Partnerships. The
Communication suggests that systematic use should be made of the
structures of the Europe Agreement, which are currently being
used to review progress on all Accession Partnership priorities
and Action Plans on administrative and judicial capacity. Implementation
of the roadmaps will be assessed through peer review in appropriate
areas and included in future Regular Reports;
- revised Accession Partnerships will be based on the
findings of the 2002 Regular Reports and the roadmaps;
- Bulgaria and Romania will be given observer status
in EU committees and Community agencies, wherever legally possible
after signature of the Accession Treaties.
17.4 The individual roadmaps are in four sections:
- the introduction summarises the analysis in the 2002
Regular Reports on progress made by the applicant towards meeting
the Copenhagen political and economic criteria for membership
of the EU;
- the section on administrative and judicial capacity
refers to the recommendations in the 2002 Regular Reports;
- the section on economic reform again refers to the
recommendations in the 2002 Regular Reports; and
- the chapters of the acquis are dealt with individually
with the priorities for each listed under the headings short
term (by end 2003), medium term (2004-2006), and By
accession.
The Government's view
17.5 The Minister for Europe, Mr Denis MacShane, says
that the Government welcomes the Commission's proposals for an
enhanced road map and pre-accession strategy for Bulgaria and
Romania, in particular:
- the restatement and recognition of the irreversible and inclusive
nature of enlargement as set out at the Brussels European Council
(23-24 October 2002);
- the support the Commission intends to assist them in achieving
their objective of membership in 2007;
- the emphasis placed on economic reform and increasing administrative
and judicial capacity;
- the establishment of a link between increased financial assistance
and absorptive capacity and progress in reforms; and
- the emphasis on effective monitoring through the Europe Agreement
structures to better inform the negotiation process and to support
the principle of differentiation (that each candidate should progress
on its own merits).
Conclusion
17.6 It is too early to judge whether the timetables
envisaged by the Commission are realistic, but they provide the
applicants with clear benchmarks against which they, as well as
the Commission, can assess the progress they are making.
17.7 The Government makes no mention of any lack of
support for the roadmaps from other Member States, so we assume
that they will be adopted by the European Council at Copenhagen.
17.8 We clear the document.
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