Commission Report 2002 (Romania)

3.3. General evaluation

Since the 1997 Opinion, Romania has made steady progress with the adoption of the acquis. However, in many areas, there has been an increasing gap between progress in legal transposition and the limited ability of the Romanian administration to implement and enforce the newly adopted legislation.

Over the last year, Romania has accelerated the process of legislative transposition and has continued work, albeit at a slower pace, on developing the administrative structures required by the acquis.

Overall, and in view of Romania`s target date for accession, Romania`s progress has been reasonable and national legislation has been aligned with the acquis in many areas. Administrative capacity building will require a comprehensive, structural reform of both the public administration and the judicial system.

In the area of the internal market, framework legislation on the New and Global Approach has allowed accelerated alignment with the sector-specific acquis on free movement of goods. Considerable progress has also been made in the establishment of bodies to administer the acquis. Further efforts should concentrate on improving standardisation and certification, on reinforcing market surveillance systems, on restructuring the food control system, and on effectively implementing public procurement legislation. The foundations for future progress with the free movement of persons have been laid, although further transposition is necessary to address shortcomings in the area of mutual recognition and administrative capacity should be strengthened in all areas. Considerable efforts have been made to facilitate the free movement of services, although the newly developed institutional framework for supervising financial services still needs to be supported. Liberalisation has continued in the area of free movement of capital and Romania is committed to a timetable for dismantling exchange controls and other restrictions on capital movements. Further efforts are particularly needed to revise the legal framework in the area of money laundering. Romania has aligned with most of the acquis on company law, although the level of piracy and counterfeiting remains a serious problem and enforcement should be improved. In the area of competition policy, some progress has been made with the transposition of the acquis, mainly in the field of anti-trust, but Romania`s enforcement record in respect of both state aid and anti-trust needs to be improved. The restructuring of the steel sector will need to be closely monitored.

Romania has made steady progress towards alignment with the taxation acquis although further adjustments are needed and the ability to implement and enforce tax legislation remains limited. Despite a high level of harmonisation with the customs acquis, further legislative alignment is needed as are efforts to reduce levels of corruption within the customs administration. Work should continue on developing IT systems to allow the exchange of computerised data between Romania and the EC. In order to develop a successful industrial policy and to promote SME development further efforts are needed to simplify and stabilise the business environment.

Alignment with the acquis on agricultural policy has accelerated, although legislative developments have not yet been matched by the development of administrative structures able to effectively implement the acquis. Structural reforms have only been slowly introduced. Inspection arrangements should be improved in the phytosanitary sector and, even more urgently, in the veterinary sector. In the area of fisheries, Romania has adopted the necessary framework legislation, although there have been delays in the establishment of the required administrative structures.

On social policy and employment, some progress has been made but considerable further work remains on legal transposition in the areas of labour law, equal opportunities, and health and safety at work.

Progress with regional policy has been slower and Romania does not yet have a clear and consolidated cohesion policy. Work has begun on developing administrative capacity, but continued efforts are needed to design management and implementation systems.

Romania`s progress in the transport sector has been mixed: good with regard to road and railway transport, reasonable in the area of aviation, but only limited in the case of maritime safety. The key issues facing Romania are developing institutions able to enforce recently adopted legislation and securing the funding to make the heavy investments required by the acquis. Despite progress in terms of legislative alignment, many structural issues still have to be addressed in the energy sector and new operating structures need to be consolidated. Despite having transposed a considerable amount of environmental legislation, Romania has neither the administrative nor the financial resources to implement it. Future efforts should focus less on legislative alignment and more on developing implementation capacities as well as securing resources for environmental investments. Alignment with the consumer protection acquis has continued and implementation structures are in place - although inter-institutional co-operation should be improved.

Steady progress has been made with aligning with the telecoms acquis and progress has been made with preparing for the liberalisation of the communications and postal markets. Future efforts should focus on developing the newly established regulatory administration into a truly efficient and independent body, and on the evaluation of the economic implications of full implementation of the universal service acquis.

Romania has started to make structural reforms in the area of justice and home affairs, although a considerable amount of work remains to be done on legal approximation and above all on strengthening administrative and judicial capacity. Despite recent reforms, including the adoption of a Schengen Action Plan, the efficiency of all police forces is limited and border infrastructure and management need to be improved. Major efforts are required to increase the efficiency of the judiciary.

In the area of external relations, trade barriers have been progressively eliminated, and Romania has achieved a generally high level of alignment with the acquis.

Progress has been made with regard to financial control and modern systems of financial management and control are being introduced. Further work is necessary to protect the Communities` financial interests, administrative capacity needs to be strengthened with regard to public internal financial control, and the independence of the Court of Audit should be guaranteed.

The overall capacity of the public administration to implement the acquis remains limited and represents a major constraint on Romania`s accession preparations. While certain parts of the administration are able to function effectively there are many important sectors where the weakness of the administration is a serious cause for concern. These concerns extend beyond adoption of the acquis and also apply to the management of EC financial assistance. This issue is beginning to be addressed by the Government which has announced a major reform programme. However, these reforms are only at the design stage and still need to be carried out.

In the accession negotiations, 13 chapters have been provisionally closed. The commitments made in the negotiations are with a view to accession in 2007 and are generally being met.

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