15/04/2005 11:47:11 am
Towards EU-27. A few days ago, the European Parliament approved the entry of Bulgaria and Romania into the EU. On Romania, 497 were in favour, 93 against, and on Bulgaria, 522 were in favour and 70 against - very large majorities. The entry is scheduled to take place on the 1st of January 2007, not too far away. They have to implement the remaining political and economic reforms, or else entry might be delayed a year. But if nothing unlikely happens, we will have an EU-27 soon, with some 480 million citizens - an increase by 30 million bulgarians and romanians. The single market grows and so does its benefits; trade, competition and growth. And Romania introduced a flat tax of 16 per cent this year. With more members, the influence of a few large countries over all the others decreases and so does the risks of common social systems. The last common denominator is simply smaller with more countries. EU Enlargement is the most important positive development in Europe these days.
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