New system 'may delay EU entries'

By Oana Lungescu BBC correspondent in Brussels

The European Union is working on a mechanism that could delay the entry of Bulgaria and Romania by a year or more, EU sources have told the BBC.

Under a reinforced monitoring system, the two countries could be made to join later than their scheduled date of 2007 if they fail to fulfil all the promises they have made during EU entry talks.

Romania and Bulgaria will have to show they kept their promise

The new monitoring system could serve as a precedent for Croatia and Turkey, which hope to begin membership negotiations next year.

This is the first time that the European Union has planned to put in place such a strong monitoring mechanism.

Last year, a senior EU official said, only half-jokingly, that the European Commission was devising "new methods of torture" to ensure that Bulgaria, Romania and any successive candidates would keep their promises.

The Commission is still working on the details, which may not be published before September.

It will be a conditional accession, giving us the possibility to delay accession for a year or so EU source

But diplomats have told the BBC the reinforced monitoring would be very constraining.

"It will be a conditional accession, giving us the possibility to delay accession for a year or so if commitments undertaken during membership negotiations aren't properly implemented," one EU source said.

The EU had already put in place a monitoring system for the 10 countries that joined on 1 May, but without the possibility of delaying actual accession.

Some EU governments grumbled that it did not prove very effective at all.

The European Commission had concluded before 1 May that no sanctions would be imposed, although serious delays were registered in countries like Poland, Slovakia and Hungary in applying food safety standards and setting up payment agencies for EU farm and regional subsidies.

However, under the accession treaty, such sanctions - known as safeguard clauses - could still be triggered over the next three years, leading to export bans or the temporary suspension of other EU membership rights.

Laggards

EU officials list several reasons for strengthening this mechanism for Bulgaria and Romania. Both countries have been lagging behind in preparations.

Both hope to join on 1 January 2007, but they also want to conclude membership negotiations in the course of this year.

The possibility of delaying entry would also signal a different approach to further expansion

Diplomats say Bulgaria may even finish in June. This would leave a gap of two and a half years to implement the various commitments made during the negotiations, whereas the gap was only one and a half year for the 10 new members.

In the case of Bulgaria and Romania, one official said: "We're making a long-term bet and the only way to keep our leverage during that time is through stronger monitoring mechanisms."

Diplomats say reinforced monitoring would enable Ireland, which holds the EU presidency until late June, to complete negotiations with Bulgaria, while easing the fears of other EU governments about its readiness for actual membership.

The mechanism would also please the Netherlands, which has insisted on strong sanctions for all the candidates that fail to keep their promises.

If applied, it may also allow for a staggered entry of Bulgaria and Romania, which some members of the European Parliament have called for.

The possibility of delaying entry would also signal a different approach to further expansion, as the EU tries to digest the 10 new entrants and to prepare for sensitive dealings with Turkey, which will be told in December whether it can start entry talks.

Until now, a diplomat said, negotiations have been mainly about commitments on paper.

Now, they are beginning to look more closely at the implementation of promised reforms.