Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-26-Speech-2-181"
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"en.20060926.23.2-181"2
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".
Mr President, Mr President of the Commission, Commissioner Rehn, Madam President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, the Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats welcomes the Commission's proposal that Bulgaria and Romania should join the European Union on 1 January 2007. Bulgaria and Romania are two major nations with a European culture, and on accession they will become members of our European family. Our group – like the others – already has national Members from Bulgaria and Romania: the Bulgarians are represented by Mrs Cappone, and the Romanians by Mr Marinescu, and over the past few months we have developed a good level of cooperation.
On behalf of the PPE-DE Group, I should like to express our appreciation to both Bulgaria and Romania – to the governments, but in particular to the people in both countries – for the huge efforts they have made since the fall of Communism. When a country was ruled by Communism for forty or fifty years, when there was no rule of law, no administration governed by it and no independent judiciary – when we look at all these facts, we can see just how much work both populations, just like those of the other former Communist countries, had to do. When we in so-called 'old' Europe take a critical view of these countries, I sometimes wish that we would remember, and express our recognition of, the huge achievements of their people.
All in all, we consider the proposal that you have submitted, Mr Barroso and Mr Rehn – and I would particularly like to thank Mr Rehn for his very honest efforts over recent years – to be a balanced one. On the one hand, membership is planned for 1 January 2007, but on the other hand we must not lose sight of the fact that there is still much work to be done. It would be irresponsible, not only with respect to the people of the current European Union but also with respect to Bulgaria and Romania, to gloss over all the work that still needs to be done.
Both Mr Barroso and Mr Rehn stated that there were still major deficits in the use of European money, that there was a risk of corruption and that there were still major problems in the fight against organised crime and with internal security. Indeed, Commissioner Rehn specifically said that the implementation of criminal prosecutions needs to be improved. In other words, the laws are in place, but they still need to be enforced. Serious breaches of the law must also be pursued through the courts, and those responsible must be held to account. We will be reminded of this by the fact, amongst other things, that both countries will have to present a progress report in six months' time.
Commissioner Rehn was, in my view, very wise to say that the 'safeguard clauses' – which could also be described as transitional provisions – will hopefully not need to be invoked. Whether or not they are invoked depends on the progress made in the reforms. If these reforms, which must be continued with full commitment after 1 January 2007, are not made, then the safeguard clauses will come into effect. We must bear this in mind at all times.
To the people of Bulgaria and Romania I have to say, in the midst of all the joy at accession, that the European Union you are joining on 1 January 2007 is not some kind of heaven on earth. We have seen in other countries how, once they have become Members of the European Union, their enthusiasm has waned considerably. Of course, you do not have to be enthusiastic about Europe, but you should always stand by it, and we must all be aware that we in the European Union can only have a shared future in the 21st century as a Union based on shared values that is capable of taking action. I hope that this awareness will never be lost in the two countries that are now joining, Bulgaria and Romania, or in the other countries of the European Union.
Mr Barroso quite rightly spoke of the institutional consolidation of the European Union that must precede each enlargement. On behalf of the European People's Party element of our group, I would like to say 'yes' to institutional consolidation, but we have great ambitions in this field. We want the principles and substance of the constitutional treaty, including its values, to become a legal and therefore political reality. That is the main agenda for the months and years ahead of us, so let us work together to that end. In this spirit, we would like to extend a warm welcome to Bulgaria and Romania."@en1
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