State of Nation November 2005

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2007 should be only the beginning of real reform

Accession to the EU in 2007 will certainly mark an important symbolic step in Romania’s transition to normality. However, it should be seen as more the beginning of the road than the end.

by Mark Percival
November 2005

In recent weeks, a number of indications have appeared that Romania is on target to join the EU on time in January 2007. Romanian observers arrived at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, while President Traian Basescu made a highly positive speech at the recent Networking Europe conference in Bucharest, emphasising that by joining the EU, Romanians were taking up what was rightfully theirs, rather than begging favours. The EU’s former rapporteur for Romania, Emma Nicholson, who has frequently been a critical voice, even calling for the suspension of the country’s accession negotiations in early 2004 mainly due to child care issues, attended the conference, and was full of praise, saying accession is assured. (Nicholson made the surprising affirmation that Bulgaria has now been overtaken.) The EU Country Report, which will have appeared by the time of publication, will give some clues as to whether or not the safeguard clause is likely to be invoked, delaying Romania’s entry by a year, but this is now looking like a remote possibility.

The EU Commission has probably decided by now that there is little logic to postponing Romania’s entry simply by a year. In practice, the country has much to do before it achieves the same standards on the rule of law and democratic freedoms as existing EU members, and a political decision was taken some time ago to admit the country before it is truly ready. The deficiencies will not be eliminated by 2007, but an extra twelve months are not likely to make a great deal of difference. For its first few years of EU membership, Romania will have a semi-detached status, with numerous transition periods applying in several sensitive areas such as free movement of workers. The country will not be a full member of the Single Market for some time.

Consequently, the critical issue now is what happens after accession. Judicial reform is only just beginning, and it is vital that the EU should set clear goals for the post 2007 period. Romania cannot be described as a state based on the rule of law when so many cases of high level corruption, such as the banking and financial scandals of the 1990s or breaches of the oil and arms embargo against the former Yugoslavia during the Bosnian war have never been properly investigated. Many figures alleged to have made enormous profits from these scams continue to play prominent roles in public life. The National Anti-Corruption Prosecutors’ Office (PNA), set up at the encouragement of the EU, and now renamed the National Anticorruption Department (DNA), subordinated to the High Court, is just starting to investigate high level corruption cases, having concentrated in the past on low and medium level graft, while leaving most of the big fish untouched. The PNA was always a questionable concept, since corruption ought really to be dealt with by the normal criminal law structure, rather than through a separate institution, but if it is to show its relevance, it must become an effective tool against high level crime.

The EU needs also to set goals for reform in the health sector, which has barely started. Under the table payments continue to be almost universal, while corruption and incompetence over the supply of drugs and equipment have meant that adequate health care is simply not available to many of the most vulnerable members of society such as pensioners. Post 2007 reforms should focus on stringent measures to eliminate bribery of doctors and nurses, while nursing should be professionalised, ending current hierarchical structures. Public administration reform is another urgent priority. In many respects, bureaucracy has actually got worse in recent years as acquis related regulations have been imposed on top of existing unreformed structures. Much inward investment into Romania is still lost due to red tape, and frequent changes in legislation.

Education is a critical area needing urgent reform and considerably improved funding. In mid October, at a conference sponsored by the British Embassy to discuss the EU’s Lisbon Agenda, which aims to promote greater competitiveness in Europe, Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu emphasised the importance of research, as an integral part of economic growth. Yet only a couple of days before, his Education Minister had resigned, due to the low level of funding for the sector in next year’s draft budget. In its electoral manifesto last year, the Liberal-Democratic alliance pledged dramatic improvements in education, saying they would double teachers’ miserable salaries, and significantly improve IT provision in schools, particularly in rural areas. The Alliance pledged to increase the education budget to 5 per cent and then to 6 per cent of GDP, yet the recent draft awarded a meagre 3.6 per cent to the sector. Teachers are not surprisingly furious with the government’s broken promises, and have staged demonstrations in which they have made ironic references to President Traian Basescu’s electoral slogan “Live well.” Like health, education is an area where stagnation rather than reform has characterised the first nine months of the Alliance administration.

Accession to the EU in 2007 will certainly mark an important symbolic step in Romania’s transition to normality. However, it should be seen as more the beginning of the road than the end. The reality is that the country benefited from favourable political circumstances which have led to its admission to the EU long before it was truly ready. Much depended on British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s pledge to support Romania’s EU accession in 1999 as a quid pro quo for the Constantinescu administration’s agreement to allow Nato planes to use its airspace in the bombing campaign against Serbia, as well as numerous other political factors. It will now be up to Romania’s leaders after they have secured the membership badge of the European club in 2007 to enact real reform in key sectors, so that the quality of life of the country’s citizens can be raised to European levels.