ROMANIAN EU ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS GOING DOWN TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 005186

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2014
TAGS: PREL ECIN RO EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: ROMANIAN EU ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS GOING DOWN TO
THE WIRE

Classified By: Rick Holtzapple, PolOff, Reasons 1.4 (B/D)

SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) The European Commission has recommended against
closing the competition chapter of Romania's accession
negotiations because of concerns over state subsidies. No
American companies are believed to be involved in any of the
major cases of concern. The EU might miss its self-imposed
deadline of the end of 2004 for concluding negotiations. If
the talks drag too far into 2005, it could even mean delay of
Romania's planned EU entry date of January 2007. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) We spoke with Dirk Lange, the European Commission's
Head of Unit for Romania, on December 7 about the state of
play in Romania's accession negotiations. Lange said that it
was still unclear whether Romania would be able to conclude
successfully all of its negotiations for EU accession prior
to the December 17 European Council meeting. Negotiations
between the GoR and the EU's Council and Commission continue
"nearly every day", Lange said (another session is being held
Dec. 8),and he has "not given up hope that we can conclude
by the end of the year."


3. (C) Lange said that both remaining open chapters, justice
and home affairs (JHA) and competition, were difficult. On
JHA, the Commission had recommended to EU Member States in
the Council that Romania's most recent commitments on
application of the EU's body of law (the "acquis
communitaire") in this area was adequate and the chapter
could be closed. But the Council had yet to reach a final
decision. Competition was more difficult, and the
Commission's most recent recommendation to the Council a
couple of weeks ago stated this chapter was not yet ready for
closure. Lange explained that under candidate countries'
"Europe Agreements" with the EU, states such as Romania were
already obligated to conform to EU law. But the Commission
needed to see evidence that Bucharest was correctly applying
it, and these concerns were not yet met, particularly in the
field of state aid or subsidies to companies. Lange said a
number of specific state aid cases were of concern, involving
both EU and non-EU companies, but he was not aware of any
that involved U.S. firms.


4. (C) Lange told us that some Member States had disagreed
with the Commission's recommendation not to conclude
accession negotiations with Romania. He did not name any,
but media reporting indicate that at least France and Italy
have been pushing to let Romania in. In the end, the Council
could override the Commission's objections and decide to
close the competition chapter in any case (although this is
made more difficult politically by the fact that competition
policy is one of the areas where the Commission has the
greatest authority within the EU). He could not predict how
events would unfold in the coming days, but was sure that
even if the negotiations were finished this month, Romania
would be subject to very close monitoring by the Commission
all they way up to its planned accession, alongside Bulgaria,
in January 2007. (NOTE: The Accession Treaty for Romania
and Bulgaria -- which despite suggestions from the European
Parliament is still planned to be a single treaty -- will
include a clause stating that if the Commission finds a
failure to meet accession obligations, and the Council
agrees, either country's entry to the EU could be postponed
by up to a year. END NOTE.) Lange added, however, that even
if negotiations stretched into 2005 there could still be time
to prepare, sign and ratify an Accession Treaty prior to that
entry date.

COMMENT
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5. (SBU) Romanian diplomats in Brussels are putting a brave
face on developments; expressing confidence they will finish
negotiations prior to December 17. But they are very
disappointed it has come down so close to the wire. While
there is a strong desire among the EU-25 to finish "the
current round" of EU expansion to 27 members this year and
not drag the process out, many Member States also worry about
setting any precedent for future negotiations (i.e., Turkey)
if Romania is given too much benefit of the doubt in the
final stages of its accession process.

MCKINLEY