Accession of Bulgaria and Romania: German Parliament calls for possible JHA safeguards

A broad majority of MPs in the German Bundestag voted on 26 October 2006 in favour of a joint parliamentary motion, calling for safeguard measures in the area of Justice and Home Affairs in relation to Bulgaria and Romania. While the wording of the parliamentary motion itself leaves some vagueness as to the precise date of such safeguards, clear statements on this question were made in the parliamentary debate. While conservatives vigorously called for immediate action as from 1 January 2007, their government coalition partners, the social-democrats, considered such a move «populistic and therefore wrong».

Background information: Possible safeguarding measures in the area of Justice and Home Affairs are foreseen by article 38 of the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania and the adjustments to the treaties on which the European Union is founded. It allows for the unilateral suspension of the Member States’ obligations in the field of judicial cooperation, namely mutual recognition of civil and criminal decision, including the European arrest warrant. The Commission’ Monitoring Report on the state of preparedness for EU membership of Bulgaria and Romania from 26 September 2006 has mentioned several deficits in this area, but considered immediate actions from the date of accession as disproportionate.

Documents:

 Deutscher Bundestag, Antrag der Fraktionen der CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP und Buendnis90/DIE GRUENEN «EU-Beitritt Bulgariens und Rumaeniens zum Erfolg fuehren», Drucksache 16/3090, 25.10.2006.

 Deutscher Bundestag - 16. Wahlperiode - 60. Sitzung. Berlin, Donnerstag, den 26. Oktober 2006. Plenarprotokoll 16/60, p. 5850 – 5867.

 Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded, Official Journal of the European Union, L 157 from 21 June 2005, p. 203.

 COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION. Monitoring report. on the state of preparedness for EU membership of Bulgaria and Romania, [COM (2006) 549 final], 26.9.2006.