EU accession impact
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© UNICEF/Romania |
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Romanian youth |
Romania joined the European Union (EU) on 1 January 2007 following a pre-accession period which saw many reforms in the fields of justice, public administration, trafficking in human beings, child protection and other areas linked to the EU’s acquis communitaire. This also includes promotion of social inclusion for vulnerable groups such as the Roma, people with disabilities, and children at risk, and increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of decentralised services. However, the 2007 National Human Development Report indicates that, at the time of Romania’s accession to the European Union in January 2007, it was in last position among European Union countries, with the lag between it and the next country in the human development index (HDI) ranking at 15 places.
Since acceding to the European Union, Romania is geared to the EU priorities in the various social sectors. Romania still needs to achieve progress in areas in which it was lagging behind during the pre-accession period, namely promoting community-based services for people with disabilities, ensuring the protection and integration of the Roma minority, and improving access to quality health care, especially at the regional level and among poorer groups and the Roma.
As of 2007, Romania also has access to some EUR 3 billion in EU structural funds, some of which are intended for social sector funding, which could be used to assist reforms in the health and education sectors. The Joint Inclusion Memorandum (JIM), the 2007- 2013 National Development Plan, and the relevant Operational Programmes form the basis for accessing these funds. The target population of the JIM includes the Roma population, children at risk, as well as persons with disabilities, and highlights key challenges including in the areas of poverty reduction, health, education and child protection. However, there is little emphasis on Early Childhood Development and on integrated cross-sectoral services. The Open Method of Coordination (OMC), which is used to monitor the implementation of structural funds, is based on soft mechanisms such as indicators and benchmarking.
Romania is strongly anchored to its EU commitments, with structural reforms continuing, although reform fatigue is a major concern. Furthermore, the unfinished reform agenda remains large, and weaknesses continue to surface.
