Graham Watson MEP answering the Commission statement on Bulgaria and Romania

Speech delivered on Tue 16th May 2006

Graham Watson, on behalf of the ALDE Group. - Mr President, I would like to pay tribute to Commissioner Rehn for his balanced and thorough assessment and his competent handling of this dossier. I also commend Anca Boagiu and Meglena Kuneva and their predecessors as Ministers for EU Integration for their unstinting hard work.

The author Mark Twain observed, 'We can change the world or ourselves, but the latter is more difficult'. Tearing down the Berlin Wall was the easy part. Building a new democratic culture takes much longer. But the bricks of effort and the mortar of persistence are working. The decision to proceed in 2007, with appropriate provisos, is the right one. The Commission should not, in my group's view, revisit its decision in the autumn, except in the gravest of circumstances.

We are concerned that Romania and Bulgaria should be judged no more or less harshly than previous newcomers. Our monitoring must be in line with current treaty provisions and legislation in force. We therefore take very seriously the Commission's expression of serious concern about continuing corruption and failure of the rule of law - areas which need urgent further action. Ill treatment of Romany people, too, continues to offend, which is why the Decade of Roma Inclusion launched by six heads of state and government is so important.

In many other areas the Commission identifies failings. These must be put right without delay. But accession cannot be an examination in which candidates fail. For failure would be at least as much a failure of the Union as of the candidate states. What is most important to the health of a society is the direction in which its face is set. Bulgaria and Romania are looking and moving in the right direction. Can that be said of all current Member States? Imagine, colleagues, that last autumn Romania's Interior Minister had proposed detention of suspects for three months without charge or that the Bulgarian Prime Minister had used the secret services to spy on his colleagues. There would have been outrage.

My group has always been wary of those who would pander to the fashionable anxiety about enlargement, making strangers of peoples who will soon be fellow citizens. I was delighted, therefore, to hear that Mr Poettering has defied some in his own party and thrown his weight firmly behind future enlargement. It gives added salience to his group's decision to meet last week in a city called Split.

I appeal to the faint hearts on the right to look at what has been achieved. Has not enlargement been the European Union's greatest success story, its crown jewels? Commissioner Spidla's report on transitional arrangements shows that enlargement has brought more jobs and higher economic growth, particularly in those countries that gave open access to their labour markets. But far beyond economic considerations, welcoming new Members has enriched the culture of our Union. Bulgaria and Romania will be treasured assets, if only we give them half a chance.

It seems that many of their people believe it is all a matter for government. On the contrary, winning the war against crime and corruption is a matter for each and every citizen. So I urge all Bulgarians and Romanians to work together with government to ensure the best possible outcome and avoid any delay to entry, not least because reform demanded to join the Union is the means to raise standards of living, quality of life, and security at home. I urge all colleagues in this House to show solidarity and demonstrate to the Bulgarians and the Romanians that they do not walk alone.

(Applause)