[autom.vertaling] Bulgarije en Roemenië krijgen streefdatum voor ingang (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - In an unexpected move, the European Council, comprised of the Heads of state and government of the 15, has agreed to support Bulgaria's and Romania's 2007 target date for possible accession to the EU.
The recently-published progress reports from the Commission on the two countries had left out any direct reference to an accession date, raising some eye-lids in Bucharest and Sofia.
Viorel Ardeleanu, a senior diplomat attached to the Romanian Permanent Representation to the EU expressed his satisfaction with the announcement and said that the Romanian government had "reached one of its objectives."
1 January 2007 had been the date which Bulgaria and Romanian had been working towards in practice, the councils confirmation of this will now put increased pressure on all sides to move forward.