Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-15-Speech-3-222"
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"en.20041215.7.3-222"2
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"Mr President, we like to talk about a Europe of values. How does this fit with the decision to admit Romania to the European Union in just two years time unless by some chance there should be a deferral of just 12 months, which hardly seems likely given that we have heard today that the Council has overridden the Commission's concerns in closing chapters, a deplorable example of
over principle of which the Dutch presidency should be ashamed.
One of my colleagues said that we are being too severe on Romania. How soft does she want us to be? On the Commission's own admission, Romania suffers from serious and widespread corruption; it has a judiciary which is neither efficient nor independent; it does not possess genuine media freedom; it cannot implement the
at local and regional level; it fails to prevent money laundering; it permits the ill-treatment of prisoners in custody; it fails to enforce laws against child and sexual trafficking. Yet this is a country apparently now so close to meeting EU values that we are putting it on a certain course to accession. It is not surprising that the EU may stand accused of being unable to say 'no' to anyone when it sets its sights so low.
The Commissioner says, and I quote from his recent parliamentary answer: 'It seems likely that Romania's future progress will be accelerated by its accession to the EU'. However, neither he nor any of us know whether that will prove true. So far we have been lucky: membership of the European Union has tended to make bad apples wholesome but perhaps we will reach the point where the bad apples infect the rest. You only have to look at Lithuania, near the top of the world league for corruption, or to the United Kingdom, locking up people without charge or trial, to realise that Europe can very easily allow its values to be betrayed from within.
We do not have in place an effective mechanism for dealing with existing Member States that quietly reject the principles of good governance. Perhaps the Commissioner can take a lead in building such a mechanism.
I wish the new Romanian Government well. The results of last Sunday's election give hope for reform, although the result was no thanks either to the Commission or the Council, both of which played right into the hands of the former cynical government.
Romania's problems run deep. Once applicants are allowed through the EU door, the Commission is deprived of its best weapons to secure change. Instead of using the opportunity to apply maximum pressure to gain reform, we seem determined to set it on a conveyor belt to automatic accession. Romania should join the European Union, but it should do when it meets the values of the EU. It would be a grave mistake to set a date for accession now."@en1
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