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Message from the Prime – Minister of Romania
H.E., Mr. ADRIAN NASTASE, for the opening of the international
conference „UNITED EUROPE: PROMOTING the EU ENLARGEMENT
PROCESS IN ROMANIA AND BULGARIA – the Europa Page”
Bucharest, 30 June 2003 -
I wish to congratulate the Ithaka Foundation for the initiative
to organise this conference. This venue offers us another opportunity
to speak about Romania’s path towards its actual path into
the European Union. Moreover it gives us the chance to seek alternatives
to talk about Europe to our citizens.
And because today is also the last day of the official mandate
of the Hellenic Presidency of the European Council, let me first
congratulate Greece for the important results and succeses during
these past six months. For us, this Presidency will have a special
relevance - The European Council of Thessaloniki represents -
for the first time in a European official document - the support
the European Union gives Romania to close negotiations in 2004.
This new timely objective confirms the ultimate decision of the
EU to include Romania in the European Union in 2007. Also, during
this semester, we have succeded to close negotiations over three
difficult chapters, two of which cover : 1) the free circulation
of goods, and 4) the free circulation of capital, both chapters
proving Romania’ potential as a functioning market economy.
All these achievements would have not been possible without the
support and the prompt response Greece has given to the messages
sent by Romania.
Secondly, I would like to refer to yet another very important
achievement, precisely the closing of the debate concerning the
future of Europe, with its outcome - the draft of the EU Convention.
This forum has laid the ground for the future intergovernmental
Conference, where Romania will participate as an observer, this
allowing us to continue to contribute to the restructuring of
the policies and institutions of a EU 27.
Given this positive European political context, favourable to
Romania’s potential to integrate the EU in 2007, we are
fully aware of the responsibility we all have to apply those measures
necessary for the EU enlargement.
As some of you might already know, this year we are working very
hard to adjust some of the main objectives, that made for our
weakest spots in the EU Commission’s White Paper 2002: the
reform of the judicial system and the fight agaist corruption,
the administrative reform, as well as the application of those
measures needed to recognise the status of a functioning market
economy.
I wish to underlign one thing: part of these measures were already
undertaken and our objectives do not represent sheer declarations
or projects left behind on a piece of paper. As we have already
proven during the past two years, the responsibilities assumed
by the Romanian Government in the dialogue with the EU institutions
were fulfiled in most cases. Thus, I would only mention a few
exemples: the anti-corruption legislation, the strategy to reform
our administration and the current restructuring of the Romanian
Government, the strengthening of the independent judiciary system,
including the executive’s interference in the development
of the judiciary act. As far as our economy is concerned, we give
priority to the on-going privatisation, debt reduction and equally
to the strengthening of the legal framework.
All these measures, tailored to ensure Romania’s path towards
fulfiling its rights and responsibilities of a member of the European
Union, will assist us reach our objective to integrate into United
Europe in 2007 .
It is obvious that our citizens must understand the reasons why
they pay such high social costs, what will be the advantages and
the disadvantages of becoming a member of the European Union.
This is why I believe in the need for a stronger partnership
of the government with the representatives of the civil society
and its opinion leaders. We need you journalists, but also you,
representatives of the civil society specialised in European Union
affairs, to bring more of Europe back home, to talk more about
the European Union, about the rights and the responsibilities
of a European citizen, and why not? about how our life will be,
once being in the European house.
I will now end this brief overview of our objectives, by wishing
you succes and by ensuring you that I will be happy to find out
the solutions that you will find in bringing the European house
„one step closer” to Romania.
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