Bulgaria and Romania get EU invite

Bulgaria and Romania should be able to join the EU in 2007, the European Commission said yesterday, opening the way for the bloc's second wave of expansion into ex-communist eastern Europe. The two Balkan countries, left out of the historic eastern enlargement in May that brought in 10 new countries, would be fit to join the bloc if they implemented agreed reforms, the EU's executive arm said in a report. "Bulgaria and Romania are an integral part of this enlargement process ... The EU's objective is to welcome both countries in 2007 as members, if they are ready," it said. The commission's paper, which must still be endorsed by EU governments in December, proposed a "safeguard clause" that could delay the two countries' accession into the 25-member bloc by one year if economic and administrative reforms stalled. The report also confirmed entry talks with Croatia would start early next year, but added they could be frozen if Zagreb breached principles of democracy and the rule of law. It gave no entry date for the former Yugoslav republic, but diplomats say it is not likely to be before 2009. The report said Bulgaria and Romania must push ahead with many difficult reforms before they were ready to join. Both need to strengthen their weak public administrations and courts, ensure that laws that exist on paper are properly implemented and root out rampant corruption.