2004 enlargement: progress towards accession by the candidate countries. Strategy paper and report

PURPOSE : to present the roadmaps for Romania and Bulgaria. CONTENT : as it had proposed on 9 October in its Strategy Paper and as requested by the European Council in Brussels on 24-25 October, the European Commission today presented roadmaps for Bulgaria and Romania to support the efforts of these two candidate countries to achieve their objective of joining the European Union in 2007. 1) A useful guide on the way to accession : the roadmaps for Bulgaria and Romania cover the period up to accession. Their purpose is to indicate in detail the main steps that they need to take to be ready for membership. They are based on the commitments made in the negotiations and on what needs to be done to fulfil the criteria for membership. They also follow the of principles that have guided the accession process from the outset, namely equality of treatment, own merits and differentiation, without introducing any new criteria or conditions. The roadmaps put a particular emphasis on administrative and judicial capacity necessary to implement the acquis and on economic reform. Short and medium term issues are identified in the roadmaps and will be further developed next year. The roadmaps will be updated periodically in view of developments in the countries and progress in negotiations. 2) Financial assistance : the Commission proposes a considerable and progressive increase in financial assistance for Bulgaria and Romania from the date of the first round of accessions. This increase will amount to an additional 20% in 2004, 30% in 2005 and 40% in 2006 compared to the average assistance received by the two countries in the period 2001-2003. Additional assistance will be conditional on making progress in line with the roadmaps and on improving significantly capacity to manage and use funds effectively. Bulgaria and Romania have begun to develop capacities to make improved use of existing funds. If preparations are continued and intensified they should be ready to receive and use additional funds effectively from 2004 onwards. 3) Observer status : Bulgaria and Romania already participate in a number of Community committees and agencies. As regards the situation after the signature of the Accession Treaty, the Commission proposes the same treatment for Bulgaria and Romania as for the other negotiating states. After the signature of the Accession Treaty, Bulgaria and Romania should therefore be given the possibility to further participate, wherever legally possible, as observers in all committees set up by the comitology procedure and all other committees. They should also be able to participate at least as observers in the relevant structures of all Community agencies. The general principles and details of this participation will be defined at a later stage. 4) Monitoring : Bulgaria and Romania have provisionally closed a considerable number of chapters on the basis of their own indicative date for membership of 1 January 2007. It is particularly important for the candidate countries and the EU to monitor closely the implementation of these commitments. The Europe Agreement structures, which are used to review progress on all priorities and on the Action Plans on administrative and judicial capacity, should be used systematically for this purpose. Peer reviews have proved a useful mechanism in someareas and could be further developed. The Commission will continue to issue Regular Reports, until Bulgaria and Romania have fulfilled the criteria for accession. Future Regular Reports will include an assessment of the implementation of the roadmaps.�