EU: The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to allow Romania and Bulgaria to join the EU in 2007 if both countries complete reforms and tackle corruption. The entry date for either country could be postponed for one year if the European Commission judges they are not ready for EU membership.
Enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said he wanted to give the benefit of the doubt to both countries but added Romania and Bulgaria should use the available time to ensure that they are fully prepared to join the EU.
"The commission will monitor very closely the preparations of the two countries and will not hesitate to recommend the use of the remedial tools should either Bulgaria or Romania be manifestly unprepared for membership," he said.
Yesterday's vote followed a promise by Luxembourg's prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, whose country holds the EU presidency, to give MEPs a say in how the two countries' accession to the EU should be funded. It opens the way for the signing of accession treaties with Romania and Bulgaria later this month.
With eight million people, Bulgaria is regarded as better prepared for EU membership than Romania, which has a population of 22 million.
Widespread corruption and a lack of press freedom could hamper Romania's ambitions, while Bulgaria has faced criticism for failing to tackle organised crime effectively.
The EU last month postponed the signing of an accession treaty with Croatia because of Zagreb's failure to co-operate fully with the UN war crimes tribunal.
This week, the commission recommended that the EU should develop closer ties with Serbia and Montenegro by starting negotiations towards a stabilisation and association agreement.
Mr Rehn stressed yesterday that negotiating such an agreement was different from starting EU membership talks, adding that Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic must be brought to justice.