BULGARIA and Romania insisted yesterday that they could still join the European Union on schedule next January after Brussels postponed a decision on their entry date because the two countries are not yet ready.

The European Commission put off a final decision about their entry date until October in an attempt to keep up the pressure for reform. While keeping open the prospect of accession next year, José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, implied that entry could be delayed by a year.

“The Commission considers Bulgaria and Romania should be prepared for membership by January 1, 2007, provided they address a number of outstanding issues in the coming months,” he said. EU leaders have promised the two Balkan countries that they will join by January 2008 at the latest.

A report from the Commission said that Bulgaria must do more to crack down on corruption, organised crime, money laundering and people trafficking. Romania was less harshly criticised, being told that it must resolve technical issues including a system to disburse EU funds to farmers.

After a prolonged and divisive debate, the Commission decided that rather than give an entry date now, it would assess the progress made in the autumn before making a final pronouncement. Some Commissioners, including Franco Frattini, the Justice Commissioner, were concerned that the delay would prompt the countries to slow down their reforms. The delay is a humiliation for the former communist countries, who are poorer and suffer more widespread corruption than the eight eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004. Both pledged not to be put off and to continue trying to meet EU standards. Calin Tariceanu, the Romanian Prime Minister, insisted that membership next year was still possible. He said: “We are determined to maintain the momentum and continue to fight corruption. The 2008 alternative is not being considered by Romanian authorities.”

Sergey Stanishev, the Bulgarian Prime Minister, said that the message from the Commission “is encouraging and an incentive to double our efforts. The conclusions give us confidence that the direction and speed of reforms are right.

“Months of mobilisation are ahead of us to continue to prove that we have adopted not only in words but in practice the rules of Europe.”

Meglena Kuneva, the Bulgarian Minister for Europe, insisted that her country could join the EU on schedule. “There are 227 days left; we can make it,” she said.

Delaying entry until 2008 is highly unlikely because it would have to be endorsed by all member states, and most Eastern European members are keen that the two nations join as soon as possible. There is also concern that delaying entry only months before they are due to join could cause logistical and technical problems. Commission officials believe that delaying the final decision and keeping alive the threat of delayed entry is the only way to goad the two countries into implementing further reforms.

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