2007 enlargement of the European Union

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On 1 January 2007,

Within the framework of integration meetings held between the EU member states and the EU candidate states Bulgaria and Romania, an 'Association Committee' was held on 22 June 2004. It confirmed overall good progress for the preparation of accession; however, it highlighted the need for further reform of judicial structures in both Bulgaria and Romania, particularly in its pre-trial phases, as well as the need for further efforts to fight against political corruption and organized crime, including human trafficking. The findings were reflected in the 2004 Regular Report for Bulgaria and Romania.^[4]

The Brussels European Council of 17 December 2004 confirmed the conclusion of accession negotiations with Bulgaria and Romania.^[5] The 26 September 2006 of the European Commission^[6] confirmed the date once more, also announcing that Bulgaria and Romania would meet no direct restrictions, but progress in certain areas – reforms of the judicial system, elimination of corruption and the struggle against organized crime — would be strictly monitored.^{[clarification needed]}

Cyrillic

With this accession,

The date of accession, 1 January 2007, was set at the

The 26 September 2006 monitoring report of the European Commission confirmed the entry date as 1 January 2007. The last instrument of ratification of the Treaty of Accession was deposited with the Italian government on 20 December 2006 thereby ensuring it came into force on 1 January 2007.

Work restrictions

Some member states of the EU required Bulgarians and Romanians to acquire a permit to work, whilst members of all other old member states did not require one. In the Treaty of Accession 2005, there was a clause about a transition period so each old EU member state could impose such 2+3+2 transitional periods. Restrictions were planned to remain in place until 1 January 2014 – 7 years after their accession.^[11][12][13]

Remaining areas of inclusion

Bulgaria and Romania became members on 1 January 2007, but the application of certain policy areas of the European Union to Bulgaria and Romania was deferred to a later date. These were:

• Schengen Area (see Enlargement of the Schengen Area, partial application from March 2024)
• Eurozone (see Enlargement of the eurozone)

Monitoring

While both countries were admitted, concerns about corruption and organised crime were still high. As a result, although they joined, they were subject to monitoring from the European Commission through a

The accession treaty granted Bulgaria and Romania a seat, like every other state, on the Commission. Bulgaria nominated

Upon accession Bulgaria's 18 and Romania's 35 observer MEPs became full voting representatives until each state held an election for the posts, which were mandated to happen before the end of the year. Bulgaria held its election on 20 May 2007 and Romania on 25 November 2007.

Impact

Member countries	Capital	Population	Area (km²)	GDP (billion US$)	GDP per capita (US$)	Languages
Bulgaria[1]	Sofia	7,761,000	111,002	62.29	8,026	Bulgarian
Romania	Bucharest	22,329,977	238,391	204.4	9,153	Romanian
Accession countries		30,090,977	349,393	266.69	8,863	2
Existing members (2007)		464,205,901	4,104,844	12,170.11	26,217
EU27 (2007)		494,296,878 (+6.48%)	4,454,237 (+8.51%)	12,436.80 (+2.04%)	25,160.59 (−4.03%)

See also

• Bulgaria and the euro
• Romania and the euro
• 1973 enlargement of the European Communities
• 1981 enlargement of the European Communities
• 1986 enlargement of the European Communities
• 1995 enlargement of the European Union
• 2004 enlargement of the European Union
• 2013 enlargement of the European Union

References