Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

Or perhaps Mr. Alan Clark. I wonder if Senator Lydon might run that by us again. I welcome the Minister to the House.

I recall the first time I visited Romania. I had been hoping to fly to Bucharest from London but missed the flight and ended up in the Hungarian capital of Budapest. I was driven in a car for ten hours between Budapest and Timisoara, the place where the revolution that ultimately ended Ceaucescu's military dictatorship began. I recall crossing the border between Hungary and Romania at 3 a.m. in the car. It took us 40 minutes to get through. I said to myself that if ever there were an example of a country needing to open its borders, engage with its neighbours and allow economic and personal freedom, it was Romania. It is a great country, about which I know little. I feel great affinity with the many democratic political forces that have attempted to bring about normal democracy since the end of Ceaucescu.

Romania is a landlocked country which deserves to become a member of the EU and whose people, like the people of Bulgaria, deserve to become EU citizens. We must remember that in putting this legislation through both Houses and allowing our Government to sign up to the end of the accession process to allow for Romania and Bulgaria's entry into the EU in January of 2007 or 2008, depending on the final decision taken this year, it will be a very good day for the EU. It will be something in which all of us can take pride, particularly in light of the number of people from Romania who have come to this State in recent years for all manner of reasons. I, like my colleagues, welcome this very much.

I wish to make three points about the accession process which occurred from 1990 to the conclusion of talks between both countries last year. Structural Funds and financial assistance to economies which are effectively transforming themselves from command economies can cause a considerable amount of difficulty within these economies. It can be argued that if Romania had taken the tough economic decisions taken by Hungary after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it could have been among the second or third group of accession countries which joined the EU. Both countries are very similar but Hungary took very tough economic decisions after the fall of the Berlin Wall which Romania chose not to take, thus effectively postponing the date of its entry into the EU possibly by approximately ten years.

We do not do enough to extol the importance of economic transfers to EU citizens. If ever there was an example of redistribution within Europe, it can be seen within the EU where the old economies have been forced to pay more to help transform economies like those of Ireland, Portugal, Romania, Hungary and other eastern European countries within the EU. This is an example of where radical sums of money have been transferred from the centre of Europe and the old economies to the east and west to encourage the radical and necessary transformation of the economies in these regions.

The EU does not do enough to explain to its citizens and people outside it borders the extent to which international norms, rights and obligations affecting all EU citizens are not simply worldwide rights but are EU rights. It is arguable that the EU has a much more fundamental notion of human rights than that found in, for example, the US and that the question of guaranteeing these rights is much more substantial than it is in many advanced countries, particularly the US. We must explain this to our citizens, be profoundly proud of these achievements and tell applicant countries which will soon be full members of the EU that these are not simply universal rights but specific rights which apply to the EU.

The transformation of its economy has been very difficult for Romania. I visited the country approximately eight years ago and saw how it was grappling with this problem. Tough decisions were not faced up to at a much earlier stage and matters were not helped by the fact that a multiplicity of parties were in place after the fall of Nicolai Ceaucescu. Ireland has an excellent opportunity to extend our trade with Romania and Bulgaria and these countries have the same opportunity to extend their trade with us. I understand that our trade with both countries has tripled in a very short period of time. Given that we must export more and more of our goods and services to remain competitive, we must realise that the new countries coming into the EU offer great opportunities for our own exporters.

I recently met a friend who used to employ six people in a company that provided design work to various businesses in the Dublin area. He has decided to relocate his business to Prague. He is in constant e-mail contact with six or seven people who work for him on a per diem basis to service Irish businesses. This might be difficult for the six or seven people in Dublin who lost their jobs, but it makes the point that if we are in one economy and trading market and we are to keep our economy competitive, these are the competitive edges that constantly come to the fore.

A difficult decision must be taken by all governments on whether to open their labour markets to both of these new countries. However real or imagined the displacement argument is, we must tread carefully in respect of this issue. There is a perception that too many of our economy's manual skilled and non-manual skilled jobs are being taken by people who understandably migrate to where there are job opportunities. Unlike the last wave of accession countries, Romania and Bulgaria are large. We must weigh the balance before making a final determination on whether all labour markets within the European Union will be opened from day one, given the number of potential workers within both of those countries.

Moving from a military dictatorship has been difficult for Romania and we should not forget that when Ceaucescu first came to power, he was seen as a local nationalist leader who stood up to the Soviet power of the time. Subsequently, a terrible cloud fell on the people of that great country for a number of decades. For them and their friends in Europe and beyond, it is a matter of great pride that they are taking their rightful place within the largest and most powerful economic club that, as an international organisation, is universally recognised as embracing human rights, freedom and democracy. It is a great day for those countries and we must help them to make the transformation as others helped us.