"Yellow card for Romania: Bulgaria's EU membership negotiations are proceeding without any major problems; Bulgaria's EU accession must not be linked to that of Romania." The European Parliament's burst of criticism sent Romania's way at the end of last week and targeting the administration in Bucharest brought up again an everlasting issue. The problem is how come Bulgarians are doing better than we are in terms of EU accession, when we can see (or believe) they are doing - at least economically speaking, worse than we do?
Bulgaria, a country three times smaller than Romania, registers a lower GDP per capita than Romania, its average salary is a little lower than in Romania, but has been a functioning market economy since 2002, therefore getting the status two years before us, as we hope to "grab" it this year.
Romania's administration and justice issues have made the differences worse, so that the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Parliament proposed in a report on Bulgaria adopted at the end of last week that "the timing" of Bulgaria's accession should not necessarily be linked to Romania's, as previously agreed. In other words, Romania's accession will be possible to postpone for after 2007, the date scheduled for Bulgaria.
The report, along with that on Romania, wherein European MP Emma Nicholson proposed a "reorientation" of the accession strategy, will be subjected to plenary vote by the European Parliament on March 1.
"The Bulgarians have been taking harsh reform measures we cannot possibly compare against since 1996. The Monetary Council cannot be underestimated. It is a harsh mechanism that works. Whereas our economic growth began in 2000, theirs began as soon as 1997. They beat the inflation in 1997, while we are still fighting it right now. They've had their share of privatisation problems, but the big difference is that we chose a gradual reform strategy," economic analyst Matei Paun explains.
Bulgaria's better image in the Brussels' eyes is not only due to its strategic (but also painful) decision to curb inflation through the introduction of the Monetary Council, but also to the team of technocrats assisting the Bulgarian Prime Minister, which works in two ways: higher efficiency and better image abroad.
The heir to the Bulgarian Crown, King Simeon of Saxe-Coburg Gotha came back as Prime Minister after 50 years of exile and surrounded himself almost exclusively with young people who had studied and worked abroad.
For instance, the Labour Minister went to the Academy of Management in Munich, the Transports and Communications Minister went to the State University of New York, the Finance Minister is a Cambridge graduate (and former vice-president Emerging Markets of Merrill Lynch), while its Negotiator for EU Accession went to Georgetown.
It is not only the image that makes the difference here. Even though we are doing better in terms of GDP per capita, the data show Bulgarians to have better living standards than we do: the life expectancy at birth is one year higher there, as the infant mortality rate is 13.7 per 1,000 live births, compared with 18.4/1,000 in Romania. Its workforce is better prepared for accession, too, as Romania has 4 out of 10 active individuals employed in the agricultural sector, over against Bulgaria's 2.6.
sorin.pislaru@zf.ro
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