D66 IN HOLLAND: BULGARIA AND ROMANIA WILL BE ABLE TO FULFILL THE REQUIREMENTS AT LEAST BEFORE THE JANUARY 1 2008

The Netherlands' ruling Christian Democratic Party will reject the requests of Bulgaria and Romania for admission into the European Union, subject to approval by Dutch Parliament next week on February 7. Christian Democras explained the move as a means for pressing these countries to undertake implementation of supplementary reforms. It is yet unclear whether the remaining political forces will side with Christian Democrats' decision, in order to provide majority of votes against endorsement of EU membership bid of the two Balkan's countries.

The party D66 (Democraten 66) in the Dutch House of representatives, which has 6 MPs, answered a couple of questions of the EuropeBG Portal before the voting of the Treaty ratification on February 7. It is a liberal democrat (center) party, generally portrayed as between the VVD and GroenLinks, with its strongest support among young, urban, professional voters. It professes a pro-European platform of ethnic and religious toleration.

Is your party intending to reject or to support the treaty for Bulgaria’s admission to the EU?

Support

Is your party intending to reject or to support the treaty for Romania’s admission to the EU?

Support –I’d like to emphasize that the Treaty for Romania and Bulgaria are one and the same; something D66 has argued against since the beginning of negotiations. Unfortunately, there was no majority in the Council for this decision.

What is the opinion of your party about the degree of readiness of these two countries to join the EU?

We are confident they will be able to fulfill all the necessary requirements at least before the 1st of January 2008. Ratification of this treaty will increase chances that the governments of Bulgaria and Romania will do their utmost to fulfill these criteria before January 1st 2007.

In which spheres are the basic difficulties and obstacles?

Regarding the (important) technicalities of this Treaty our main concerns are: the fixed deadline of January 2008 as the latest date for entry and the linkage between the two countries in one treaty.

What is the general public feeling in the Netherlands about Bulgaria and Romania as future members of the EU?

According to the latest Eurobarometer 52% of the population supports the entry of both Romania and Bulgaria to the EU. We believe the public shares D66’s sense that both countries belong to the European family.

Do you think that a delay of 6 months or a year would change a lot in the two countries before their actual integration? 

We believe that delaying ratification at this point (until the next monitoring report of the Commission) will be interpreted in Romania and Bulgaria as a sign of a lack of confidence in their ability (and willingness) to satisfy the criteria for entry, and -given the signals of some political parties- they would be right in doing so. It is, however, important to maintain pressure on the reform process and strengthen those parties/groups in both societies that support that process. In light of the pace of reform over the last couple of months, we are confident that a lot can change for the better in
six to twelve months.