Architectonics of Reforming Romania and Bulgaria in the Context of Integration into the EU

Abstract

he article analyses the dynamics of negotiations between Romania and Bulgaria regarding EU membership and reveals their steps on the way to integration and solving the main problematic issues. It has been proven that the new approach of Bucharest, in particular institutional reforms, the creation of a national system for the coordination of European integration and the development of National Programs and Priority Action Plans for the preparation of EU accession, led to the acceleration of the process of preparation for integration and conducting negotiations. It is established that the EU authorities tried to promote the integration of Romania and Bulgaria by modernizing the Accession Partnership in 2002 - 2003 and updating the Road Map in 2000 and 2002, as well as providing and increasing the amount of financial assistance. The European Commission and the European Council, due to the backwardness of Romania and Bulgaria, called on them to step up their efforts, thereby confirming the EU's willingness to provide them with full support. It is substantiated that the adoption of the financial package for the accession of Romania and Bulgaria in February 2004 intensified the negotiations and contributed to the implementation of the most difficult sections of the acquis in 2004. The reporting documents of the Commission on Romania and Bulgaria for 2004 stated that they continued to fulfil the Copenhagen criteria and the probable readiness to membership in three years. It is noted that after making a number of efforts and carrying out forced reforms, the above-mentioned states managed to achieve EU membership in 2007.