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Romania and Bulgaria

A Trial Period in the EU

By Carsten Volkery

Romania and Bulgaria may now be full members of the European Union, but in their daily lives, it will quickly become apparent that they are second class EU citizens. Brussels is making every effort to remind the Black Sea nations that they are serving a probationary period.

Bulgaria may have joined the European Union on Monday, but that hasn't given airlines like Air Sofia much reason to celebrate. Indeed, for some companies, life today is no different than it was before the Jan. 1 accession date. The European Commission has refused access to the EU domestic market to all Bulgarian airlines because the country's aging aircraft fleets fail to meet western safety standards. Hundreds of planes have been denied access to Europe, including 50 massive Antonov cargo jets from the days of the Soviet Union.

For Bulgaria, this means it must continue to negotiate its routes and landing rights with individual countries rather than Brussels. And things could get a whole lot worse: If Bulgaria doesn't permanently park the ramshackle planes by February, some of the country's airlines may be placed on the EU's "black list".Airlines that appear on the black list are banned from taking off or landing at any airport in any EU member state. Brussels has also raised the warning flags over Bulgaria's chronically understaffed national aviation authority.

When EU officials meted out punishment to the airlines in December, it was the first time Brussels had applied one of the numerous "protective clauses" that are included in the accession treaties with Bulgaria and Romania. Of course, the message was as calculated as it was harsh: The European Commission doesn't want there to be any lingering doubts that its standards must also apply to the new member states.

That also applies to other areas. As of Monday, Romanians and Bulgarians can consider themselves to be EU citizens. Their heads of government will now have a place at the negotiating table in Brussels with equal rights, they will have two commissioners on the European Commission and they will be able to stand in the EU line at airports and present their Bordeaux red passports.

Few open borders

But they will also be second-class members. For a period of up to seven years, residents of these countries will not be allowed to work in a number of older EU member states. Countries like Germany, Austria and the Netherlands have almost completely sealed off their labor markets from the new members -- just as they did in 2004 during the EU's first eastward expansion, which included, among others, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Even Britain and Ireland, which were happy to take immigrants during the first wave of EU expansion, have put up barriers this time around. Indeed, the only places where Romanians and Bulgarians are being offered free access to labor markets are in eastern European EU member states and a few Scandinavian member countries.

Travel without border patrols will also remain a distant dream for Romanians and Bulgarians -- at least for the time being. Though some eastern European countries that were part of the 2004 EU expansion will be permitted to join the Schengen Area, a date for Romania and Bulgaria isn't even being discussed yet for entering into the border control-free European travel zone.

The most difficult aspect for the two countries, however, remains the protective clauses. As in 2004, veteran EU member states have the right to request that the European Commission implement protective measures if a specific industrial sector from a new member state represents a competitive threat to its own industry.

In addition, Romania and Bulgaria can also be punished if they don't abide by the promises they made to enter the EU. It's a bit like a trial period -- EU observers keep an eye on the progress of reforms and the correct use of EU funds. Both governments have to present their accounts annually in Brussels. There are also countless deadlines. For example, Romania has to create an anti-corruption office by March, which will monitor the incomes of members of parliament and their associates.

If the European Commission concludes that the desire for reform is slacking off, then it can withdraw privileges from the new members and limit their access to the EU's internal market. It can impose a trade embargo on certain goods, refuse to recognize diplomas or hold back structural and agricultural subsidies. There are already many exceptions regarding the internal market, mostly in the agricultural sector. For example, neither of the two countries is allowed to export pork meat to the rest of the EU due to rampant swine fever.

The newcomers are also being eyed suspiciously in questions of justice. According to article 38 of the Accession Treaty, the Commission can suspend at any time the automatic recognition of Romanian and Bulgarian judicial sentences or court verdicts. Unlike in the past, the Commission no longer needs to obtain the approval of the European Court of Justice for such sanctions. Under new fast-track procedures, other sanctions can also be imposed upon request within five days.

So far, there have been no signs of loud protests against the way the countries are being treated. Indeed, the dominant feeling in both countries is simply one of relief that their entry was not postponed until 2008.