Brussels delays EU decision on Sofia, Bucharest
By George Parker in Sofia
Bulgaria's prime minister on Monday appealed to the European Union not to "humiliate" his country, as EU leaders prepared to make Sofia sweat over whether it can?join?the Union next year.
José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, has decided to delay by up to five months a decision on whether Bulgaria and Romania should join the EU in 2007, to assess whether they are serious about tackling corruption and organised crime.
Mr Barroso's biggest concerns are over Bulgaria, where police and judicial reforms have so far failed to yield high level prosecutions of criminal bosses or crooked politicians.
Olli Rehn, the EU enlargement commissioner, has recently praised Romania's progress but has called on Sofia to be "much more vigorous" in tackling crime.
Mr Rehn had hoped to be in a position to recommend an entry date for both countries in a report to EU leaders on May 16, but senior Commission officials told the FT the final decision would be delayed until the autumn, possibly until October.
The Commission wants to apply maximum pressure on EU applicants to meet high standards before they join, partly to assuage doubts in western Europe over the speed of enlargement.
Sergey Stanishev, Bulgaria's prime minister, said any delay in setting an entry date would be a disappointment, and that it would be a boost to eurosceptics in his country who opposed EU membership. "We are not second-class citizens," he said. "Don't humiliate us."
He said Bulgaria was making progress in tackling organised crime and corruption and that a raft of changes in the law and the appointment of a new chief prosecutor were yielding results. Former MPs were facing possible prosecution and two criminal overlords were also in court.
Mr Rehn and Mr Barroso say Bulgaria has not achieved a single successful prosecution of what the Commission estimates to be 173 contract killings or murder attempts since 1992.
Romania will be disappointed to be kept waiting to hear whether it can join on time in 2007, although in practice both Bulgaria and Romania are unlikely to have to wait until 2008, the maximum delay allowed un-der their accession treaties.
A number of member states, including Britain and Poland, are pushing hard for both countries to join on time. It would take a unanimous decision by all member states to invoke the clause allowing a 12-month delay. But Mr Barroso wants to maintain pressure to the end. "We will make it clear that 2007 is still do-able for both countries, but some officials are going to have to cancel their summer holidays to show some solid results," said one Commission official.
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