"It is hypocrisy ... they treat us as a second-order member". These strong words come from a colleague who recently graduated in The Netherlands on International Policy. He is Bulgarian. Bulgaria became EU's newest members on 1 January 2007, together with Romania. Their entrance was not without struggles. Since the principle acceptance in 2003, entrance was numerous times postponed. This month Bulgaria succeeded the technical reports needed to enter Schengen. But their entrance is postponed by France and Germany (a.o.). Are the old member states indeed playing tricks on Bulgaria. Or is this just a blaming game by the Bulgarian and Romanian heads?
The influx of immigrant workers comes
with a price: social-cultural problems
The geo-political interests for influence over the black sea is large. It is no coincidence that just months after the entrance of Romania, a deal was made to build pipe lines to transport oil from the black sea to the Central-European market. As a result, European countries will be - from 2010 onwards - less dependent on Russia's oil (ref 1). Another large potential benefit is the cheap labor force the new member states have to offer.
Objections
Despite these benefits, the western member states also detect problems on the pathway towards unification with Romania and Bulgaria. The newcomers are much less wealthy - which means they will put pressure on EU funds. The Worldbank lists them as upper-middle-income economies, while almost all EU-countries are high income countries with an income greater than $12,195 (ref 2). For example, the average income in Romania is one-filth of that of an employee in The Netherlands. This financial gap generates great appeal for an influx of immigrants across member states who are happy to do the low-income jobs in the richer member states. But if there is on thing that these countries learned during last 30 years from the influx of immigrant workers, then it's that it comes with a price: social-cultural problems. Every member state that experienced a growing population of foreign workers, crime rates went up, while social differences with the domestic population caused unrest. Eventually, this resulted in an EU-wide rise of far-right politicians and anti-immigrant movements. In all, the foreign workers were not that sexy anymore. There is no indication that Balkan workers adapt easier to western culture. Recent findings even describe Romanian teenagers as racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic (ref 12). When these youngster move to western countries where this rampant intolerance is absolutely unacceptable, a deeper widening up of the social chasm between autochthonous and immigrant people becomes ineluctable.
New strategy in The Netherlands
The discussion whether old member states can (and want) to support more immigrant workers intensified over the last decade. Also the Dutch liberal party (VVD) is worried about a great influx of Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants to The Netherlands. It was even written down in the coalition agreement between the ruling parties VVD and the Christian Democratic party that accession to Schengen will be tied to progression with anti-corruption policy (ref 4). This came shortly after signals that most of the 2,25 billion euros from the EU-funds - to support the Romanian government to help fragile groups - ends up in the pocket of corrupt politicians and latent NGO's (ref 5). Recently, Henk Kamp (Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment) expressed to favor a strategy focusing on activation of the non-working labor force.
High Corruption
Another issue that the European Union takes highly serious is the high level of corruption. This issue is the number one focus area of the European Commission while it has Bulgaria under scrutiny. Even though the expectations were high, after the EU accession, Bulgaria slowed down its implementation pace of reforms - much like the 10 countries that joined the Union in 2004. Several months after the accession The Economist concluded that prime minister Stanishev and President Parvanov "seem unaware that membership brings obligations" (ref 3).
France versus Romania
Also in France, the rising popularity of Front National, steers anti-immigration policy. The relations between France and Romania were under pressure after Sarkozy said to expel The Roma population. In January 2011 Romania succeeded on all of the technical reports for entrance to Schengen. But France and Germany showed that they favored a postponed accession. Instead of lobbying intensively with the strong arguments they built up during the years after joining the EU, Romania's president persuaded the largest EU-states by threatening to block EU-decisions. Manners that are largely discredited Romania as a loyal partner. Knowing that Schengen accession needs an unanimity decision, one may say that Romania clumsily shot itself in the foot (ref 6, 11).
Postponement
The entrance of Bulgaria and Romania seems to be connected. If the countries enter, presumably both enter at the same time. Bulgaria became Schengen-ready early in April 2011 (ref 7), but the positioning by Romania on the subject made it less likely that France and Germany would grant them access to Schengen. France, Germany, and The Netherlands still favor a postponement. In the summer of 2011 the European Commission brings out a report on the Bulgarian progress of in fighting corruption. This report seems to be pivotal in the discussion when Bulgaria (and Romania) will enter the Schengen area. The postponement is expected to last at least until October 2011 (ref 9)
Double Standards
As soon as France and Germany voiced their concerns about the accession of the newcomers to Schengen, the foreign minster of Romania, accused both countries for making "false arguments and artificial links", and that they "apply double standards to newcomers". These arguments equal the ones I hear from my Bulgarian friends. And indeed, France and Germany exhibit a different set of rules for these countries than they did for other countries. On the other hand, not all countries are the same, and the political context within voting states may change dramatically too. It is for this reason, that the decision to grant access to the visa-free area requires unanimity. These rules of the game imply that implementing the technical necessities is no guarantee for an open door. It only brings the key closer to the hole. It seems that the newcomers are either not used to this politics game, or just phrase the dilemma as if there was an absolute promise that unanimity would be granted by default. The question is if the member states should have know earlier that they had their objects? The objections were explicitly voiced in November 2010 by France's 'EU affairs minister Pierre Lellouche who warned against an automatic enlargement and said that the technical evaluations were not enough. He exclaimed that France and The Netherlands delay this decision at least until summer 2011 when the European Commission is set to present its annual report on the fight against corruption and organised crime in the two countries (ref 10). In this light it is more remarkable that Romania and Bulgaria act to be perplexed by the French decision
References.
- Black Sea oil pipeline to start flowing by 2012, Euractive, published 7 April 2007.
- Country and Lending Groups, Worldbank.
- Bulgaria and the European Union, EUphoria, for now, The Economist,online at http://www.economist.com/node/9622202
- 'Toestroom Roemenen door afschaffing paspoortcontrole', Elsevier,
- 'EU-miljarden voor Roma verdwijnen in het niets', Elsevier,
- Romania’s clumsy way to Schengen, Kosmopolito,
- Bulgaria Now Completely Ready to Join Schengen, The Bulgarian News
- Bulgaria's Schengen Entry Delayed at Least till October, Turkish Weekly
- Romania wants decision on Schengen in first half of 2011, Expatica,
- France wants to delay Schengen accession for Bulgaria and Romania, EUobserver, 11 november 2010,online at http://euobserver.com/9/31246
- Romania v France, Let us in, Economist,
- Poll: Many Romanian teens rampantly intolerant, Guardian, published: 13 April 2011,
More interesting background information
- Romania and Bulgaria join the European Union, World Socialist Web Site, online at http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jan2007/roma-j06.shtml
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