Vasile Puscas, Romania's chief-negotiator with the European Union, on Wednesday said the Government still targeted 2007 as the date for Romania's EU accession and rejected all recommendations according to which postponing integration would be better for the Romanian economy.
According to Puscas, Romania still hopes to complete negotiations in 2004, with the Treaty to be signed as early as possible in 2005. According to this schedule, accession to the EU would take place in January 2007.
The chief-negotiator's statement comes after several businessmen maintained that Romania would stand to gain more if the EU integration date were pushed back from 2007 to 2010, when the economy is likely to be better prepared.
In their opinion, the economy is standing at the brink of an era of expansion and Romania should thus wait until certain sectors become profitable, which would enable it to successfully enter the community market.
The chief-negotiator with the European Union maintains, however, that from an economic point of view, gains stemming from Romania's integration in 2007 would outrun costs, in the medium and long run.
"The economy will grow and the living standards will improve, as proved by the experience of other states that joined the Union (Ireland, Spain, Portugal)," Puscas feels. He says that adoption and implementation of the European acquis will yield a healthy, dynamic competition environment, which would positively impact on the Romanian economy.
Thus, subsidies granted to loss-making enterprises from the taxpayers' money would go down, with support to be granted to companies with a growth potential, instead.
"This will help the Romanian economy become more competitive. A possible delay in Romania's integration, beyond 2007, could trigger a slowdown in growth and a wider economic gap between us and the members states," Puscas says.
Another positive effect of a 2007 integration is the fact that Romanian products would have better opportunities, after accession, to enter a market made up of almost 500 million people, as there will be no more barriers in the way of the free circulation of goods, services and workforce.
"All this will help boost productivity and product quality, will stimulate know-how and raise investments in technological updating," the minister stated.
miruna.lebedencu@zf.ro
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