Joining the European Union - Pros and Cons
Project Overview | Country Background | The Legacy of Commuism -10 years of severe economic instability | Romania and the European Union | Economic and Social Improvements conducive to EU Integration | Joining the European Union - Pros and Cons |Sources
In April 2005, Romania signed the accession treaty with the European Union, which stipulated that the country would join the EU on January 1, 2007 (12). The EU however, reserves the right to postpone Romania’s admission in the EU till January 2008, if it will be estimated that the country is not fully prepared to successfully meet membership requirements. While some believe that joining the EU will result in significant gains for the country, others believe the contrary, as they consider that the country is not yet ready for a successful integration.
Arguments supporting the idea that the country is not yet ready to join the European Union
There still are a significant number of areas that the government has to improve in order to satisfy the admission criteria imposed by the EU and the most important areas the country needs to achieve improvement is public administration, judicial system and fight against corruption (Government of Romania). Corruption is probably one of the biggest problems that Romania currently faces. Although the government did adopt measures to fight against corruption, their successful implementation depends on the “independence, effectiveness, and accountability of the National Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office” (Strategy paper of the European Commission on progress in the enlargement process 13).
Although the country achieved satisfactory progress towards macro stability, and accelerated privatization, the government needs to improve public administration, fight against tax evasion -especially at the level of customs--a sector in which the Government is "firmly determined to eliminate any illegal practice, abuse or corruption act, without any kind of compromise”, reduce poverty, improve the health care sector, strengthen its institutional development and social protection institutions and adopt protective measures for the environment (Government of Romania). Despite improvements, “Macro-economic stability remains fragile. Privatization is far from complete. Soft budgets constraints continue to exist in the form of payment arrears, which also discourages financial intermediation. The financial sector is underdeveloped. In agriculture, credit is hard to come by because of a lack of collateral and a vast smallholder sector has developed with no organized marketing outlets; above all, alternative employment has to be created to absorb the labor surplus before efficiency gains become possible” (Romania – Country Assistance Evaluation - 13). Although Romania did achieve significant economic improvements in the last few years, the country lacks far behind its neighbors. For example, although the inflation rate decreased significantly, it was twice as much that of Hungary and ten times that of Lithuania (Romania – Country Assistance Evaluation). Also, although in 2004 the country managed to significantly increase its GDP per capita to that of 7000 euro (in PPS) that is only 31.4% of the EU average (European Union).
In addition, many argue that the government hasn't yet adopted sufficient protective measures for Romania’s 1 million Roma, 80% of who live in poverty. Although the World Bank provided substantial support for improving the lives of Roma, also known as gypsies, they still face severe institutional discrimination (they don’t have access to social services and are often refused basic human rights, like the right to education and health services) and are mostly unemployed, mostly due to the fact that the end of communism resulted in many state owned factories close. In order to Romania to become a functional member of the EU, in which democratic values are successfully implemented, the government has to initiate more development programs that can help the Roma become better integrated in the social and economical life of the country. They need to have the same rights as the other people and that they should feel comfortable being who they are. Roma children should be materially and socially supported to go to school, as while 79% of Romanian teenagers between 15-18 years old go to school, only 36% of the Roma do.
Although gaining acceptance in the EU is the ultimate goal of the government, there are voices that say that Romania’s acceptance will not be as beneficial for the country. In an article published right before the Romanian elections in November 2004, journalist Tom Gallagher considers that the EU's decision to pour billions of euros into a state with weak administrative capacity has just intensified corruption (Gallagher 3). He considers that Romania is likely to become a EU member not so much due to the economic and social improvements it registered since the fall of communism, but due to its strategic geopolitical position and due to the fact that the lowering of tariff barriers in line with EU requirements will allow France, Italy and Germany, all of which have stagnant economies, to export goods into a country with 22 million consumers (Gallagher 4). Also, Romania has some of Europe’s best arable land, which can be bought at low prices by foreigners. In conclusion, Gallagher calls Romania “Europe’s very own Puerto Rico”, a country that has no proper democracy or market economy –“an exploited dependency of a neighboring Goliath” (3).
