By IPS Correspondents
BUCHAREST, Nov 7 2003 (IPS)

Maneciu appears on a map of Europe as a tiny dot remote from the centres of power. It is some 2,000 km from Brussels and 100 km even from the Romanian capital Bucharest.

The little town in southern Romania is held in by wooden fences. The landscape is craggy and scarred by slag heaps; a river flowing through the mountains looks a poisonous blue; the stunted trees are black and withered.

"Many people here are terribly desperate and poor," says Ioan Topala, 43, who owns a shabby pub here where locals buy their drinks mostly on credit. "We had enormous hope a decade ago when the communist regime was overthrown, but we have not seen any change for the better."

Topala lost his job when the government closed a loss-making plant in the town. His only desire now is to get the right to work in the European Union. "I’ll get to the West in the end," he says. "On a train, under a train – whatever it takes."

Such sentiments are particularly strong in Romania because along with neighbouring Bulgaria it is one of the two poorest countries seeking European Union (EU) membership.

Here and all across the Balkans people are struggling to pull themselves up by a common hope: the prospect of membership of the wealthy club of nations next door.

Many see the EU solely in terms of benefits without thinking of possible costs such as big job cuts at state-owned enterprises. This danger has just been highlighted by the European Commission (EC) annual progress report on the enlargement process.

The report for Romania, while mentioning progress in many areas and recognising a growing will for reform, criticises the government for its failure to implement promises to improve public administration, increase judicial independence and stem Romania’s rampant corruption.

"Vigorous and sustained implementation of its structural reforms programme is required for Romania to be able to cope with competitive forces within the European Union in the near term," says the report from the EC, the executive arm of the EU.

Romania also needs to cut state subsidies, sell a part of its power companies, free up the pricing of utilities, collect more than two billion dollars that state- owned companies owe the state budget and the two billion dollars they owe each other, the report says.

But potentially most damaging may be its failure to win the EU’s "functioning market economy" tag. "Romania can be considered as a functioning market economy once the good progress made has continued decisively," the report says.

There are no written criteria for earning that label, but economists say it is intended to recognise an economy’s ability to cope with competition in Europe’s common market.

"It boosts credibility in the eyes of foreign investors and usually attracts more investments and better credit rating," economist Matei Paun told IPS. "Without it Romania will remain handicapped in its quest for accession."

The EC report says weaknesses remain in Romania’s legislative process, and that adoption of EU law suffers as a result. A serious gap is reported between updated laws and the ability to implement them. The EC paper notes also that corruption remains widespread.

The progress report puts Bulgaria a bit ahead of Romania. The EC report says the Bulgarian economy will be able to deal with competitive pressure from market forces in the EU in the near future.

The report reconfirms the existence of a functioning market economy in Bulgaria, a status which was given to the country last year.

Bulgaria comes in for some specific criticism for poor living conditions of children and mentally disabled people placed in institutions. The report criticises Bulgaria’s administrative and judicial system, and urges the country to complete its privatisation programme.

But despite such differences in the Balkan countries’ readiness for joining Western Europe, the EC says there will be no "decoupling", and that both Romania and Bulgaria are on track to joining the EU together in 2007.

Officials in Brussels say Romania and Bulgaria should sign a common accession treaty by the end of 2005 in order to become EU members two years later.

Some analysts are not sure that the Balkan countries will meet their ambitious target. "The EC report is also highlighting the vulnerability of the candidate countries in their bid to join the wealthy bloc," says economist Daniel Daianu.

"In my opinion the EC puts just the right kind of pressure on the governments to move a bit more quickly," he says. "The next years, but especially the next few months are vital for Romania and Bulgaria’s membership chances."

Back in Maneciu such words sounds strange to Topala. "I do not always understand what politicians say. For me it is important just to feed my family. If the European Union will help me to do so, it will be okay."

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