Commission wants more reform in Romania

According to the Financial Times, the Commission
is determined to put formal accession talks with Romania on hold
pending further far-reaching reforms to Bucharest’s state aid
policies. 

The month of December will be crucial to the future of Romania’s
EU membership bid. While the country still has two key chapters to
close in its negotiation process before the end of the year (the
success of which in itself may determine the country’s accession
schedule), there appears to be a growing inclination by the
Commission to propose that formal talks be put on hold pending
sufficient progress in Bucharest’s reforms. 

According to the Financial Times, the Commission
believes that Romania has made insufficient commitments to reform
its system of state subsidies, especially in the steel sector, and
has yet to resolve the long-standing problems of corruption and
authoritarianism. The two outstanding negotiation chapters are
competition and justice and home affairs.

Based on these considerations, the paper quotes Enlargement
Commissioner Olli Rehn as saying that in Bucharest’s accession,
“schedule cannot overrun substance”. The FT says that
Rehn’s stance is supported by Commission President José Manuel
Barroso and Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes.

However, the Commission’s opinion may well be overruled by the
member states, who at their scheduled mid-December summit may
decide against delaying Romania’s accession process, the paper
writes. Several member states are of the opinion that any further
delay would be counterproductive. The article points to a possible
compromise, in which the EU would conclude talks with Romania this
year but would make the signing of the Accession Treaty conditional
on further reforms in state aid. 

Romania remains confident that the two chapters will be closed
in December and that accession will proceed as scheduled.

Meanwhile, the Commission has also made it clear that it will be
closely watching the run-off elections in Romania on 12 December
following allegations of vote-rigging in the first election
round.

Read more with Euractiv

EU to keep an eye on upcoming Romanian elections

In a carefully-worded statement, the EU has made it clear that it will be closely watching Romania's run-off elections on 12 December. The comment follows claims of vote-rigging in the first round.