Romania will become part of the EU in 2007.
Last December 2003, the Council of Europe officially recognized the candidacies of Romania and Bulgaria as candidate countries to join the EU in 2007. This recognition must be understood within the context of the tense relations that have arisen as a result of the EU's refusal to recognize Romania as a market economy in its 2003 annual report.
In this regard, the European institutions sought to draw attention to the Nastase government and subsequently publicly acknowledged its progress in other areas of the pre-accession negotiations. It should also be noted that at the conference on Romania's pre-accession process, held in Brussels during the second week of December, two further chapters were approved in the negotiation process: Transport Policy and Free Movement of Persons.
The finalization of negotiations on these chapters was not straightforward, especially regarding the Free Movement of Persons. It was stipulated that member countries may regulate and restrict quotas for Romanian workers for a period ranging from two to seven years to prevent substantial imbalances in their labor markets. As for the Transport chapter, it is worth noting the Romanian institutions' commitment to reorganize the national airline, TAROM, to avoid similar situations in the future.
The closure of the two chapters mentioned has left 22 chapters definitively approved, so the Romanian institutions will have to close the remaining eight chapters during 2004, preferably before November, when the current Commission's mandate ends. This would leave the signing of the Accession Treaty for 2005, and would allow Romania to join the EU in 2007.
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