euractiv.com
Published: 04 January 2011 Updated: 05 January 2011
Angered by France and Germany's decision to postpone Romania's accession to the EU's border-free Schengen area, Bucharest has warned that it could unilaterally leave an EU mechanism to monitor its law-enforcement system. Romania also said it would insist that the same mechanism be applied to Croatia. EurActiv Romania reports.
Speaking to the daily Adevarul, Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Bachonschi said that in response to a recent decision by France and Germany to postpone Romania's accession to the Schengen space, his country had "two options".
One, he said, was that Romania could admit its failures and follow in the footsteps of Bulgaria by starting to negotiate with the two older EU members.
But Baconschi immediately insisted that this was not the right option, as the "correct" and "dignified" response is in his view to block attempts by Paris and Berlin to establish "a two-speed Europe".
He thus warned that Romania could leave the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), which was set up by the European Commission to accompany Romania and Bulgaria's accession to the EU in 1 January 2007.
When Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007, they were placed under special monitoring to assist them in reforming their juridical systems and combating corruption. In the case of Bulgaria, the fight against organised crime was highlighted as a particular problem. Since then, regular reports have revealed only limited progress.
The CVM has never been used in the case of other countries' EU accessions. In an exclusive interview for EurActiv last March, Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle said his services would do everything in their power to ensure that Croatia should join without such a tool. Croatia is expected to conclude its accession negotiations under the current Hungarian EU Presidency.
Baconschi said that his country had reformed its judiciary and the CVM was now used by older EU members for "other purposes," this becoming "a handicap" for Romania.
"If the CVM is maintained not as a means of cooperation, but as a way to put pressure [on Romania] in other areas, we don't need to keep it. Let's look at Croatia. We support the EU's enlargement to the Western Balkans. But we cannot accept this accession taking place without the CVM in a situation where the CVM applies to us," the Romanian minister said.
Baconschi also hinted that France was more opposed than Germany to Romania's Schengen accession, admitting that there had been setbacks in economic cooperation between Bucharest and Paris.
The Romanian press reported statements by politicians according to whom France had punished Romania, after officials in Bucharest had asked for "African-style kickbacks," or very large bribes, from French company Vinci in return for a contract to build a motorway linking the cities of Comarnic and Braşov.
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Background
Schengen is a village at the border between Luxembourg, France and Germany, where an agreement was signed in 1985 to gradually abolish checks at common borders between those countries, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Gradually, the process was taken further. In 1995, border controls were abolished between Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.
Today, the Schengen border-free area consists of 25 member states: 22 EU countries (all except Bulgaria, Romania, Ireland, the UK and Cyprus) as well as three associated countries: Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. Denmark has signed the Schengen agreement, but has kept its freedom not to apply certain measures.
The UK and Ireland decided to stay outside the Schengen area.
Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU in 2007, remain outside the agreement due to shortcomings in their police and judicial systems. Both countries were placed under a special monitoring system, called a Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.
In September, EU ministers for European Affairs decided to extend the monitoring for another year.
Schengen is a village at the border between Luxembourg, France and Germany, where an agreement was signed in 1985 to gradually abolish checks at common borders between those countries, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Gradually, the process was taken further. In 1995, border controls were abolished between Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.
Today, the Schengen border-free area consists of 25 member states: 22 EU countries (all except Bulgaria, Romania, Ireland, the UK and Cyprus) as well as three associated countries: Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. Denmark has signed the Schengen agreement, but has kept its freedom not to apply certain measures.
The UK and Ireland decided to stay outside the Schengen area.
Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU in 2007, remain outside the agreement due to shortcomings in their police and judicial systems. Both countries were placed under a special monitoring system, called a Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.
In September, EU ministers for European Affairs decided to extend the monitoring for another year.
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