'Bulgarije en Roemenië waarschijnlijk in 2007 lid EU'

The European Commission is to recommend in a report in May that Romania and Bulgaria join the EU in January 2007 as planned, according to German daily Die Welt.

The commission will urge both countries to make further reforms in order not to miss out on aid cash when joining the bloc, the German paper reported referring to "high-ranking sources in the EU commission."

Individual member states, as well as current EU president, Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schussel, have already declared their readiness to start ratification procedures as soon as possible after the report comes out.

A final decision on when exactly Romania and Bulgaria will join the bloc rests with EU leaders, expected to deliver their verdict at a summit in June.

Sofia and Bucharest signed agreements in Luxembourg last year to join the EU, but their entry can be postponed if they are judged to be too slow in making reforms.

Enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn is expected to give MEPs in the foreign affairs committee a preliminary indication of Bulgaria and Romania's readiness on Monday evening.

According to the Financial Times, Martin Schulz, the leader of the Socialist group in the European Parliament, said a delay of Bulgaria and Romania's entry to the EU would unleash nationalism and populism in the two countries.

"You have ultra-nationalists, fascists and former communists in both these countries," Mr Schulz said.

French president Jacques Chirac last month also said he expects that the commission will not recommend postponing the date.

"France is awaiting a decision from the commission which, it appears to us, will be positive," Mr Chirac told reporters.

"Then the ratification process in the French parliament can begin," he said.