EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ««« « « « « 1999 « « 2004 ««« Session document FINAL A5-0259/2001 Par1 24 July 2001 REPORT on Romania's application for membership of the European Union and the state of negotiations (COM(2000) 710 - C5-0610/2000 - 1997/2172 (COS)) Part 1: Motion for a resolution and explanatory statement Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy Rapporteur: Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne RR\302022PA.doc PE 302.022 PA PA PE 302.022 2/37 RR\302022PA.doc PA CONTENTS Page PROCEDURAL PAGE ..............................................................................................................4 MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION .............................................................................................6 EXPLANATORY STATEMENT............................................................................................14 ANNEXES................................................................................................................................21 Published separately: Opinions on Romania ...............................................................................Part 2 - A5-0259/2001 Global opinions.........................................................................................Part 3 - A5-0251/2001 A5-0252/2001 A5-0253/2001 A5-0254/2001 A5-0255/2001 A5-0256/2001 A5-0257/2001 A5-0258/2001 A5-0259/2001 A5-0260/2001 A5-0261/2001 A5-0262/2001 RR\302022PA.doc 3/37 PE 302.022 PA PROCEDURAL PAGE By letter of 13 November 2000, the Commission forwarded to Parliament its 2000 Regular Report on Romania's progress towards accession (COM(2000) 710 - 1997/2172(COS)). At the sitting of 15 March 2001 the President of Parliament announced that she had referred this Regular Report to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy as the committee responsible and to all committees concerned for their opinions and she confirmed the referral at the sitting of 14 June 2001 (C5-0610/2000). The Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy had appointed Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, rapporteur at its meeting of 23 September 1999 and confirmed the appointment at its meeting of 7 November 2000. The committee considered the Commission report and the draft report at its meetings of 25 April, 19 June and 9 July 2001. At the last meeting it adopted the motion for a resolution by 57 votes to 1. The following were present for the vote: Elmar Brok, chairman; Catherine Lalumière, and William Francis Newton Dunn, vice-chairmen; Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, rapporteur; Alexandros Alavanos (for Luigi Vinci), Alexandros Baltas, Bastiaan Belder, The Lord Bethell, Andre Brie, Gunilla Carlsson, Michael Cashman (for Sami Naïr), John Walls Cushnahan, Rosa M. Díez González, Andrew Nicholas Duff (for Francesco Rutelli), Pere Esteve, Monica Frassoni (for Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit), Michael Gahler, Per Gahrton, Cristina García-Orcoyen Tormo (for Franco Marini), Jas Gawronski, Vitaliano Gemelli (for Hugues Martin), Alfred Gomolka, Vasco Graça Moura (for Gerardo Galeote Quecedo), Klaus Hänsch, Magdalene Hoff, Mary Honeyball (for Linda McAvan pursuant to Rule 153(2)), Giorgos Katiforis (for Raimon Obiols i Germà), Christoph Werner Konrad (for Jacques Santer), Efstratios Korakas, Joost Lagendijk, Armin Laschet (for Alain Lamassoure), Ioannis Marinos (for Hans-Gert Poettering pursuant to Rule 153(2)), Emilio Menéndez del Valle, Philippe Morillon, Pasqualina Napoletano, Arie M. Oostlander, Reino Paasilinna (for Mário Soares), Guido Podestà (for Amalia Sartori pursuant to Rule 153(2)), Jacques F. Poos, Luís Queiró, Lennart Sacrédeus (for José Pacheco Pereira), Jannis Sakellariou, José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, Jürgen Schröder, Elisabeth Schroedter, Ioannis Souladakis, Ursula Stenzel, Hannes Swoboda, Gary Titley, Johan Van Hecke, Geoffrey Van Orden, Paavo Väyrynen, Demetrio Volcic (for.Jacques Santkin), Jan Marinus Wiersma, Matti Wuori, Christos Zacharakis, and Sabine Zissener (for Ingo Friedrich). The opinions on Romania of the Committee on Budgetary Control, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities will be published separately (part 2 - A5-0259/2001). The global opinions of the Committee on Budgets, the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs, the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy, the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport and the Committee on Constitutional Affairs will be PE 302.022 4/37 RR\302022PA.doc PA published separately (part 3 - A5-0251/2001 to A5-0262/2001). The report was tabled on 24 July 2001. The deadline for tabling amendments will be indicated in the draft agenda for the relevant part-session. RR\302022PA.doc 5/37 PE 302.022 PA MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION European Parliament resolution on Romania's membership application to the European Union and the state of negotiations (COM(2000) 710 - C5-0610/2000 -1997/2172(COS)) The European Parliament, – having regard to Romania's application for membership of the European Union, submitted on 22 June 1995, pursuant to Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, – having regard to the 2000 Regular Report from the Commission on Romania's progress towards accession (COM(2000) 710 - C5-0610/2000)1, – having regard to the 2000 Enlargement Strategy Paper on progress towards accession by each of the candidate countries presented by the Commission (COM(2000) 700)2, – having regard to the decisions taken by the European Council, notably at Copenhagen (21-22 June 1993), Luxembourg (12-13 December 1997), Helsinki (10-11 December 1999), Nice (7-9 December 2000) and Gothenburg (15-16 June 2001), – having regard to the 1999 Accession Partnership for Romania, which will be revised in 2001, – having regard to its resolution of 4 October 2000 on Romania's membership application to the European Union and the state of negotiations3, - having regard to the European Parliament resolution on the Treaty of Nice and the future of the European Union (2001/2022(INI)), – having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure, – having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy and the opinions of the other committees concerned (A5-0259/2001), A. whereas deep commitment to bring Romania in the mainstream of its preparation for the accession to the European Union was confirmed by President Iliescu and the Romanian Government; B. whereas in the report of 1999 the Commission considered, in the light of the principles set up at the Helsinki Summit, that if priority were not given to dealing with the crisis in the childcare institutions, the Commission would have to reconsider its evaluation of the political criteria; noting that the Commission 2000 Regular Report on Romania's progress 1 Not yet published in OJ 2 Not yet published in OJ 3 Texts Adopted of that Sitting, Item 10 PE 302.022 6/37 RR\302022PA.doc PA towards accession states that this country fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria, C. whereas Romania's incorporation of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child was incomplete through textual alterations which compromised the position of the abandoned child, D. whereas the secondary legislation on international adoption of 1996 created a legal framework for child trafficking world-wide; a situation deplored and opposed by the Hague Convention for International Adoption contracting parties, under whose nominal auspices the offending legislation was claimed to rest; and lately by the Romanian Orthodox Church, E. whereas this grave situation has held back the development of child services, led to a continuation of significant abuse and neglect of children in state institutions, and to the growth of the street children phenomenon and trafficking, F. whereas on 14 December 2000 the incoming government placed a stop on international adoption, in June 2001, the Romanian adoption committee decided to suspend international adoption, at the High Level Group meeting of 12 June and subsequently the Prime Minister declared the suspension of international adoption between one or two years, and added a review of cases in process dated prior to 14 December 2000, awaiting the appropriate law, G. whereas the new Government's programme for child protection underlines its commitment to care for Romania's needy children through the provision of modern, non- institutionalised child care services in compliance with the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child and of its optional protocol on trafficking, H. whereas the Prime Minister has declared his intention to make Romania a no-go area for traffickers, I. whereas the improvements already made in some sectors of Public Administration shall be accompanied by the reinforcement of its administrative capacity, J. whereas the positive macro-economic developments in the recent months such as: significant growth, historically high level of exports, a substantial increase in the Central Bank’s foreign reserves, an important reduction in the unemployment rate; noting that the macro-economic stability achieved is undermined by high losses in state-owned enterprises, the lack of financial discipline and black economy, K. whereas significant progress has been made in the veterinary sector, organic farming and agricultural trade, L. whereas the total financial assistance envisaged under the pre-accession strategy