European Union (Accessions) Bill

I am delighted that there is consensus. Although we welcome the move toward the final objective of accession for Romania and Bulgaria, Members in all parts of the House accept that there are some real difficulties, as my hon. Friend rightly highlights. I shall return in a moment—briefly—to the specific issue that he raised. The timetable set out for accession is very short indeed. If accession is to take place in January 2007, satisfactory progress must have been made in the next few months—by April 2006, I think. There is strong support in this House for the accession of both countries, but it must take place at the right time and under the right circumstances. It is worth noting the remarks of the Enlargement Commissioner, who said as recently as last week:"““If needed, we won’t hesitate to recommend, in spring 2006, to postpone accession by one year””." We must accept that, even in that event, we are looking a very short timetable for what is a significant programme of work and change in the two accession countries.