Romania's 2007 accession - a bold goal

Romania’s and Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union in 2007 is a very bold goal, which can be attained only in the most optimistic case scenario, the latest Deutsche Bank report on EU’s enlargement prospects shows. The deadline announced by the European Union for the two countries is a positive signal, but the statements of the European officials are nowhere near a firm commitment, the report says. A previous report by Deutsche Bank was showing Romanian and Bulgarian economies would be ready to join the European Union in about seven years, as they could not possibly catch up with the other applicant states any sooner, not even if registering sustained economic growth. At the same time, integration cannot happen before completing accession negotiations, and Romania has closed 16 chapters of the total 30 so far, while Bulgaria has closed 23. Romania will have to keep improving its business environment to increase the extent of the current account deficit coverage by foreign direct investments, the analysts of the German bank recommend. ZF