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On 1 January 2007,Bulgaria andRomania becamemember states of the European Union (EU) in the fifth wave ofEU enlargement.^[1]

Bulgaria andRomania did not have areferendum related to European Union accession.

Romania was the first country ofpost-communist Europe to have official relations with theEuropean Community. In 1974, a treaty included Romania in the Community'sGeneralized System of Preferences. Following theRomanian Revolution of 1989, membership of the EC, and its successor theEuropean Union (EU), had been the main goal of everyRomanian Government and practically everypolitical party in Romania. Romania signed its Europe Agreement in 1993,^[2] and submitted its official application for membership in the EU on 22 June 1995 and Bulgaria submitted its official application for membership in the EU on 14 December 1995. Along with its official EU application, Romania submitted theSnagov Declaration, signed by all fourteen major political parties declaring their full support for EU membership.^[3]

During the 2000s,Bulgaria andRomania implemented a number of reforms to prepare for EU accession, including the consolidation of its democratic systems, the institution of therule of law, the acknowledgement of respect forhuman rights, the commitment to personalfreedom of expression, and the implementation of a functioningfree-market economy. The objective of joining the EU also influenced Bulgaria and Romania's regional relations. As a result, Bulgaria and Romania imposedvisa regimes on a number of states, includingRussia,Ukraine,Belarus,Serbia,Montenegro,Turkey andMoldova.

Within the framework of integration meetings held between the EU member states and the EU candidate states Bulgaria and Romania, an 'Association Committee' was held on 22 June 2004. It confirmed overall good progress for the preparation of accession; however, it highlighted the need for further reform of judicial structures in both Bulgaria and Romania, particularly in its pre-trial phases, as well as the need for further efforts to fight againstpolitical corruption andorganized crime, includinghuman trafficking. The findings were reflected in the 2004 Regular Report for Bulgaria and Romania.^[4]

The Brussels European Council of 17 December 2004 confirmed the conclusion of accession negotiations with Bulgaria and Romania.^[5] The 26 September 2006 of theEuropean Commission^[6] confirmed the date once more, also announcing that Bulgaria and Romania would meet no direct restrictions, but progress in certain areas – reforms of the judicial system, elimination of corruption and the struggle againstorganized crime — would be strictly monitored.^{[clarification needed]}

With this accession,Cyrillic became the third official alphabet of the EU, after theLatin andGreek alphabets.^[7] Cyrillic will also be featured on theeuro banknotes and the national (obverse) side of theBulgarian euro coins. TheECB and theEU Commission insisted that Bulgaria change the official name of the currency from ЕВРО (EVRO) (as accepted) to ЕУРО (EURO), claiming that the currency should have a standard spelling and pronunciation across the EU.^[8] For details, seeLinguistic issues concerning the euro. The issue was decisively resolved in favour of Bulgaria at the2007 EU Summit inLisbon, allowing Bulgaria to use the Cyrillic spelling евро on all official EU documents.^[9][10]

The date of accession, 1 January 2007, was set at theThessaloniki Summit in 2003 and confirmed inBrussels on 18 June 2004. Bulgaria, Romania and the EU-25 signed theTreaty of Accession on 25 April 2005 atLuxembourg'sNeumuenster Abbey.

The 26 September 2006 monitoring report of theEuropean Commission confirmed the entry date as 1 January 2007. The last instrument of ratification of the Treaty of Accession was deposited with the Italian government on 20 December 2006 thereby ensuring it came into force on 1 January 2007.

Bulgaria and Romania became members on 1 January 2007, but the application of some areas of cooperation in the European Union to Bulgaria and Romania were deferred to a later date. These were:

• Schengen Area (seeenlargement of the Schengen Area): partial application from 31 March 2024, full application from 1 January 2025.
• Eurozone (seeenlargement of the eurozone): participation of Bulgaria from 1 January 2026, of Romania TBD.

On 1 January 2007, Bulgarian and Romanian nationals became European Union citizens and acquired theright to move and reside freely in other EU member states. However, some member states of the EU required Bulgarians and Romanians to acquire a permit to work, whilst members of all other old member states did not require one. In theTreaty of Accession 2005, there was a clause about a transition period so each old EU member state could impose such 2+3+2 transitional periods. Restrictions were planned to remain in place until 1 January 2014 – 7 years after their accession.^[11][12][13]

On 1 January 2014, restrictions were lifted in the last remaining member states, giving Bulgarian and Romanian citizens right to work in all EU and EEA member states.

While both countries were admitted, concerns about corruption and organised crime were still high. As a result, although they joined, they were subject to monitoring from the European Commission through aMechanism for Cooperation and Verification (CVM). It was initially set up for three years after the accession but has continued indefinitely and although it has highlighted the corruption and applied some pressure to continue reforms, it has not succeeded in forcing the two countries to complete reforms and corruption persists.^[14][15] In 2019 however, theEuropean Commission stated that it will admit Bulgaria in theSchengen area for its efforts against corruption.^[16]

The accession treaty granted Bulgaria and Romania a seat, like every other state, on the commission. Bulgaria nominatedMeglena Kuneva, fromNDSV who was given the post ofCommissioner for Consumer Protection in theBarroso Commission, from 1 January 2007 until 31 October 2009. She was nominated in 2006 by the then currentBulgarian Prime MinisterSergei Stanishev. Romania nominatedLeonard Orban, an independent, who was madeCommissioner for Multilingualism in theBarroso Commission, from 1 January 2007 until 31 October 2009. He was nominated in 2006 by the previousRomanian Prime MinisterCălin Popescu-Tăriceanu. Both were approved by Parliament to become Commissioners upon accession.

Upon accession Bulgaria's 18 and Romania's 35 observerMEPs became full voting representatives until each state held an election for the posts, which were mandated to happen before the end of the year. Bulgaria held itselection on 20 May 2007 and Romaniaon 25 November 2007.

Member countries	Capital	Population	Area (km2)	GDP (billion US$)	GDP per capita (US$)	Languages
Bulgaria[1]	Sofia	7,761,000	111,002	62.29	8,026	Bulgarian
Romania	Bucharest	22,329,977	238,391	204.4	9,153	Romanian
Accession countries		30,090,977	349,393	266.69	8,863	2
Existing members (2007)		464,205,901	4,104,844	12,170.11	26,217
EU27 (2007)		494,296,878 (+6.48%)	4,454,237 (+8.51%)	12,436.80 (+2.04%)	25,160.59 (−4.03%)

• Bulgaria and the euro
• Romania and the euro
• 1973 enlargement of the European Communities
• 1981 enlargement of the European Communities
• 1986 enlargement of the European Communities
• 1995 enlargement of the European Union
• 2004 enlargement of the European Union
• 2013 enlargement of the European Union

• Historical enlargements of the European Union
• History of the European Union
• 2007 in the European Union
• 2007 in international relations
• 2007 in economic history
• January 2007 in Europe
• Bulgaria and the European Union
• Romania and the European Union
• 2007 in Bulgaria
• 2007 in Romania

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