Romania's Accession to the EU

In 1997 the Council agreed on the negotiations procedure for the fifth enlargement of the EU with twelve countries, including Romania. The Accession Intergovernmental Conferences for each candidate country have met in sessions held at the level of ministers or deputies, permanent representatives, for the Member States, and chief negotiators for the applicants. The negotiations with each applicant proceeded on their own merits. The pace of each negotiation depended on the degree of preparation by each applicant country and the complexity of the issues to be resolved.

To become a member state of the European Union, Romania had to fulfil the Copenhagen accession criteria and align itself with the EU legislation and policies (the so-called "Community acquis").

The accession negotiations established the conditions under which the Community acquis is applied in Romania, before and after accession (along the transition periods agreed during negotiations – that is temporary exceptions from the application of a specific requirement of European legislation) and the way in which Romania will participate in the institutions and the budget of the Union.

Organisation of negotiations and preparations for accession in Romania

In Romania, the Ministry of European Integration and the National Delegation for the Negotiation of Romania’s Accession to the EU is responsible for the coordination of negotiations and for Romania’s preparation for accession.

The National Delegation drafted the position papers, which are official documents through which Romania has presented its position regarding each chapter, the stage of adoption of EU legislation, the calendar and the terms of adoption and application of the acquis. The position papers were discussed with Parliamentary Committees, trade unions, associations of employers, NGO’s. To facilitate this consultation, a Consultative Council for the Negotiation of EU Accession was established. Afterwards, the position papers were adopted by the Government of Romania and submitted to the EU.

Romania’s accession to the EU

Romania has concluded the negotiations on 14 December 2004. The European Council on 17 December 2004, noted with satisfaction the closure of negotiations and called for the finalization of the Accession Treaty with Romania (and Bulgaria). On 22nd of February 2005, the European Commission issued its favourable Opinion on the accession of Romania to the EU. On April 13, the European Parliament granted its assent for the accession of Romania to the European Union and the Council of the European Union issued the decision to accept the accession of Romania to the EU on April 25.

The Accession Treaty providing for the accession of Romania to the EU on 1 January 2007 was signed in Luxembourg on 25 April 2005.

After the signing of the Accession Treaty, Romania became an acceding state and was granted the status of active observer to the activities of the Union. Romania is associated to the works of all community institutions, at the political and technical level (The EU Council and its sectors’ bodies, the working bodies of the European Commission, European Parliament, Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee). Also, the association to the great policy lines of the Union (the Hague Program, the Lisbon Strategy, the Sustainable Development Strategy etc) represents an important challenge for Romania. The active observer status enables Romania to sit in the EU institutions and to be involved in the decision-making process of the EU in the same way as the member states do, excepting the voting right.

On 17 May 2005, the Romanian Parliament ratified the Accession Treaty. The Ratification Law was promulgated on May 24. Romania (along with Bulgaria) had deposed the ratification instruments, in Rome, on May 27.

The following member states have already ratified the Accession Treaty: Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Cyprus, Greece, Estonia, Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, Malta, Latvia, United Kingdom, Portugal, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and Austria.

On 16 May 2006, a Comprehensive monitoring report has been issued by the European Commission. The report acknowledged that Romania continues to meet the political criteria for EU membership, the criterion of being a functioning market economy and vigorous implementing its structural reform programme should enable it to cope with the competitive pressure and market forces within the Union. The report states also that Romania has reached a considerable level of alignment with the acquis in most areas.