May 2006 Package on Bulgaria and Romania

On 16 May 2006 the Commission approved the 2006 Monitoring Reports on Bulgaria's and Romania's preparations for EU accession.

Commission President Jos Manuel Barroso and Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn announced to Parliament that Bulgaria and Romania should be able to join the EU on 1 January 2007 if they take action to address a number of outstanding problems. The Commission will make a new report in October on whether that target date can be met.