José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission:

Bulgaria and Romania to join EU 01.01.2007!

“The European Commission has just adopted its final report on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania. Our conclusion is that both countries are in a position to take on the rights and obligations of European Union membership on 1 January 2007. The readiness of Bulgaria and Romania is a direct result of the sustained progress both countries have achieved over the last years and particularly since our last report in May. Bulgaria and Romania have found the right answer to our strict conditionality by addressing the areas we highlighted in May. In doing so, they have achieved considerable progress. We are looking forward to Bulgaria's and Romania's historic achievement of European Union membership in 2007. I expect both to contribute energetically to the process of European integration.”