Twaalfde ontmoeting van de Associatieraad EU-Roemenië (en)

• 1. 

  The EU-Romania Association Council held its twelfth meeting on Monday 20 March 2006. The meeting was chaired by Mr Mihai-Razvan UNGUREANU, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Romania and Head of the Romanian delegation, of which Ms Anca Daniela BOAGIU, Minister for European Affairs, and Ms Monica Luisa MACOVEI, Minister of Justice, were also members. Mr Hans WINKLER, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Austria headed the European Union delegation (Troïka format). Director General Michael LEIGH represented the European Commission.

• 2. 

  The Association Council recalled that the historical event that took place with the signature of the Accession Treaty of Romania, as well as of Bulgaria, to the European Union in April 2005, bringing the fifth enlargement process which was launched in 1997 close to completion. The Association Council underlined the importance it attaches to the ratification of the Accession Treaty in good time. The Association Council noted the European Union's reiterated objective to welcome both Romania and Bulgaria as members in January 2007, if they are ready, and the Union's willingness to support them towards achieving this goal. In this context, the Association Council congratulated Romania on the important progress it has already made in preparing for membership and encouraged renewed and sustained efforts in order to be able to address outstanding issues in the limited time remaining.

Against this background, the Association Council meeting provided a timely opportunity to review Romania's progress in its preparations for accession and to consider priorities for further work within the framework of the Europe Agreement.

• 3. 

  The Association Council reviewed the state of Romania's preparations for accession, in particular in the light of the Comprehensive Monitoring Report issued by the European Commission in October 2005. It was noted that, while confirming that Romania continues to meet the political criteria for membership, the Commission stated in the Report that additional efforts were needed in a number of areas in order to address remaining issues.

The Association Council confirmed the importance of the on-going reform of the Romanian public administration, welcomed the legislative progress in this field while encouraging Romania to maintain its political commitment to the reforms and continue with effective implementation. Underlining the importance of continuing the implementation of the reform of the civil service, the Association Council noted such important steps as the revision of the Law on the Civil Servant's statute and the new reforms related to the areas of public service careers and remuneration. The Association Council further welcomed the adoption of the framework law on decentralisation and related legislative amendments, which now have to be effectively implemented and backed up by ensuring effective transfer of resources to local authorities and better control of public funds at local level: this is of paramount importance to the preparations for the management of the EU structural funds.

The Association Council stressed the importance of the judicial reform process, which remains a key issue that affects all areas of the acquis. The Association Council therefore strongly welcomed the significant progress made in this field, particularly noting the adoption of a new package of three laws regulating the functioning of the justice system, which has laid a solid ground for a sound reform of the justice system. Further work will need to be undertaken to guarantee the full implementation of these reforms in practice, something that will require both the allocation of necessary resources and a strong commitment and co-operation between all stakeholders in the justice system.

The Association Council noted that the fight against corruption, including at high level, is an issue of utmost importance; it therefore recalled the importance for Romania to continue its efforts to tackle this problem, in particular by focusing on the enforcement of existing anti-corruption laws and on the build-up of a convincing track-record of investigations carried out at all levels. Particular attention should be paid to high-level corruption. Other key priorities identified by the Association Council were border control and the fight against organised crime and trafficking in human beings, where Romania was called upon to take additional measures to address remaining issues.

While acknowledging recent progress in the field of public administration, the Association Council noted the necessity to continue to enhance overall administrative capacity and improve co-ordination of the managing bodies at national, regional and local level in Romania, particularly with a view to ensuring the smooth functioning of EU policies after accession and the effective, sound and responsible implementation of EU funding.

Should the required administrative capacity not be in place, Romania would not be able to fully harvest the fruits of its accession.

As regards welfare, the Association Council welcomed the continued progress made by Romania with the reform of child protection, taking good note of the implementation of the new legislation on Children's rights and Adoption and, in this latter context, encouraging Romania to further develop intra-country alternatives in the best interest of each child. The situation for disabled adults and the mentally disabled still requires continuous improvement, including an urgent increase in resources, training means and raised awareness. The Association Council welcomed the improvement of the situation of minorities in Romania, while calling for further progress in this area, inter alia by strengthening of the capacity to further effectively implement the 2001 Roma Strategy.

With regard to the economic criteria for accession, the Association Council noted with satisfaction that Romania, providing vigorous implementation of its structural reform programme, should be able to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union. A fair level of macro-economic stability, with strong economic growth and falling inflation and unemployment rates, has been maintained. At the same time, the Association Council strongly invited Romania to ensure that the trade and current account deficits do not widen, that the overall business environment is further improved and that sound and sustainable economic policies, including measures to reduce the informal economy and to ensure the due collection of taxes, are implemented.

The Association Council noted with satisfaction that Romania has continued to make significant progress in terms of transposing and implementing the acquis and has reached a considerable level of alignment. However, certain tasks still remain to be completed and efforts need to be stepped up accordingly, in particular with regard to the implementation and enforcement of the acquis in a number of areas. The Association Council devoted special attention to issues linked to the functioning of the internal market and to the security of the EU such as the fight against corruption and organised crime as well as external border control. On accession, Romania will have the second longest external borders in the EU-27 and the Association Council emphasised the essential importance of effective veterinary border protection. Remaining concerns in the field of agriculture, including the continued need to reinforce administrative capacity and compliance with EU veterinary standards, as well as to ensure a high level of food safety was also emphasised.

While welcoming the ongoing restructuring process in the energy sector, the Association Council encouraged Romania to further increase its efforts both in energy saving and the use of renewable energy which should be given high priority. Other issues discussed related to the enforcement of environmental requirements, where enforcement and implementation of the legislation now must be ensured, in particular with regard to areas such as integrated pollution prevention and control, environmental impact assessment, waste management and water protection. The need to ensure effective implementation in the field of social policy was also discussed.

• 4. 

  The Association Council noted with satisfaction that the implementation of the Europe Agreement continues to run smoothly and acknowledged the contribution made in this respect by the various bodies of the Association.

The Association Council noted that bilateral trade relations continue to be good, and welcomed the entry into force of an Additional Protocol to the Europe Agreement to take into account the accession of the new Member States to the EU, including adaptation, as well as further liberalisation, of the trade regime for agricultural products. The Association Council also noted the conclusion of the negotiations on an agreement on the reciprocal recognition, protection and control of wines and spirits. Pending formal conclusion, an agreement on new reciprocal preferential trade concessions has already been put into force. Negotiations were also concluded in December 2005 which resulted in a liberalised trade regime for processed agricultural products. The Association Council also noted the ongoing restructuring of the Romanian steel sector, acknowledging Romania's efforts to conform with the requirements established in this regard.

The Association Council acknowledged that, for the year 2005, the total indicative financial allocations for Romania amount to €397 million from PHARE (and an additional €38 million for Cross Border Cooperation), €342 million from ISPA and €175.2 million from SAPARD.

In this context, the Association Council reiterated the necessity for Romania to ensure sound financial and programme management of EU funds, in order to secure an adequate absorption capacity and to let Romania fully benefit from EU funding once Member State.

• 5. 

  The Association Council exchanged views on some international issues of common interest. It welcomed Romania's continuing contribution to regional stability through its policy of promoting good neighbourly relations and regional co-operation. The Association Council took particular note of the present Romanian chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and of the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.

• 6. 

  In conclusion, the Association Council expressed confidence in the development of relations within the Europe Agreement at this final stage in Romania's preparations for accession to the European Union. The Association Council also expressed its firm expectation that Romania will urgently address all outstanding issues in order to accede to the EU on the 1st of January 2007.