Reax to EU report on country's accession efforts

Описание: (6 Nov 2003) SHOTLIST

Bucharest, 5 November 2003
1. Romanian flag
2. Former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's palace in the center of Bucharest
3. Various newspapers
4. Close up headline "Critical test for Romanian government"
5. Busy streets
6. Block of flats and small houses
7. Palace of Justice
8. Interior pictures of courtroom
9. Various dossiers
10. Romanian police patrolling in car
11. Various of police raid, breaking down doors, searching various youths, arresting and leading away youths
12. Zoom out from old communist painting on tyre factory in Bucharest
13. Women moving tractor tyres in factory

Braila (200 km east from Bucharest) - Recent
14. Various of shipyard on the river Danube

Near Bucharest - Recent
15. Various of peasants working land with ox and plough

Bucharest, 5 November 2003
16. Large abandoned cranes
17. Beggar
18. Old woman going past exclusive shops
19. Mircea Geoana, Romanian Foreign Minister entering hotel lobby
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Mircea Geoana, Romanian Foreign Minister:
" The release of the report of the European Commission on Romania is, of course, an important event. We have always considered the report as an objective analytical and political instrument to measure Romania against its own performance on its way to European membership. We believe that in comparison to the report in 2002, this report makes a significant improvement of Romania's overall performance on its way to closing negotiations to join the EU in 2007. That's why we take the positive signals with obvious pleasure, but we also take the negative things with a similar desire to work harder and to be able to until the last report of the commission in October 2004 for my country to be able to fully comply with the criteria and open our way towards full integration in the European Union."
21. Flower bouquet

STORYLINE:

The European Union's head office on Wednesday told the 10 relatively poor countries set to join next spring to move faster in getting ready by enacting required reforms in areas ranging from food safety to garbage collection. But the so-called annual readiness reports showed all accession sates still had a way to go in conforming to 80,000 pages of EU law and regulation accumulated while most of them were stuck behind the Iron Curtain.

Romania and Bulgaria, which failed to close talks last year, are still on course to join the union by 2007, the EU said. They are expected to conclude their negotiations next year.

The Commission praised both for their efforts to combat corruption but said more still needed to be done to "reinforce" democracy and the rule of law.

The Commission did not give Romania what it desperately wanted, a clear recognition that it had a functioning market economy. The European Union's executive arm said that the former communist country has a long way to go before it is ready. "Romania can be considered as a functioning market economy once the good progress made has continued decisively," the report said, expressing particular concern about all-pervasive corruption.

It said that while Romania has carried out many reforms, "a considerable gap remains between the commitments made... and the capacity of the Romanian administration to meet these commitments."


But the commission still hailed progress made by Romania and said "the building blocks for a modern industrial policy are now in place." It said progress had continued "in reforming the system of child protection... and further initiatives have been taken to enhance the rights of national minorities."










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