From Negotiations to Accession: Lessons from the 2007 Enlargement

Abstract

Although overshadowed by the ‘big bang’ enlargement of 2004, the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU in 2007 was more than simply a ‘coda’ enlargement. It had its own distinctive features and provides important insights into how the EU's handling of enlargement is evolving. It established a number of interesting and potentially significant precedents and provided timely reminders of how important political and public opinion can be for ratification. Examination of the period from negotiating the terms of membership to the actual accession of the two applicants underlines the dynamic and increasingly uncertain nature of the EU enlargement process.

Key Words:

• European Union enlargement
• Romania
• Bulgaria

Notes

¹ On the 2004 enlargement generally, see Vassiliou (2007).

² A few sentences later, however, Rehn was arguing that with the accession of Bulgaria and Romania ‘[t]he fifth enlargement round was completed’.

³ Although, there is of course speculation that an application from Iceland in spring 2009 could see the country accede alongside if not before Croatia following ‘fast-track’ negotiations.

⁴ An additional concern driving closure at this time was a desire to avoid adding the questions of when and whether to close negotiations on the agenda of the forthcoming European Council. This needed to be kept to a minimum given the scheduled debate on whether and when to open negotiations with Turkey.

⁵ Analysis of post-accession compliance with EU law has revealed, however, that the CEE countries that acceded to the EU in 2004 generally have far better compliance records than the EU(15) (see Sedelmeier, 2008).

⁶ Interview with Commission official, Brussels, January 2008.

⁷ Post-accession monitoring activities have resulted in three reports being published under the cooperation and verification mechanism, see http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/secretariat_general/cvm/progress_reports_en.htm (accessed 28 April 2009), and at least one warning to Romania in 2007 about the function of the country's IACS (see European Commission, 2007b).

⁸ The narrowest vote in favour of a state acceding to the EU came on 13 November 1993 when 52.8% of voters in Sweden voted ‘yes’ to EU membership. The largest vote in favour was in Slovakia in 2003 when 93.7% of voters endorsed accession.

⁹ The outcome of the referendum was a clear majority (68.3%) in favour of the enlargement.

¹⁰ For details of the votes see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Accession_2005 (accessed 28 April 2009).

¹¹ The votes in favour were 497 for Romania and 522 for Bulgaria.

¹² On opposition among German politicians, see Cărămidariu (2006).

¹³ See the report on Rehn's appearance before the Bundestag select committee, in Deutscher Bundestag (2006).

¹⁴ Of note are the divisions within the CDU-CSU in Germany on whether to introduce a referendum for further enlargement and the suggestion that Slovenia might hold a referendum on Croatia's accession. See Deutsche Presse Agentur (2009); Vucheva (2009).