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BULGARIA AND ROMANIA JOIN THE EUROPEAN
UNION
On January 1, 2007, the European Union gained two more
member states with the accession of Bulgaria and Romania. Huge celebrations were
held in both countries to usher in a new chapter in their history, seventeen
years after the fall of communism.
The European Union now has 27 member
states and a population of 485 million.
Bulgaria and Romania applied for
EU membership in 1995 and began formal accession talks in February 2000. They
missed out on the big expansion of 2004, however, after being told they were not
ready.
Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov said January 1, 2007 would go
down as one of the most important dates in the nation’s history.
“It was
hard, but we arrived at the end of the road. It is the road of our future. It is
the road of our joy,” said Romania’s President Traian Basescu.
Romania
stands to garner EU subsidies totaling 32 billion euros and Bulgaria is expected
to receive 11 billion euros through 2013.
In 2005 Bulgaria exported
3,645,810 kilograms of cheese to the United States having a Customs value of
$11,632,000. Romania shipped only 489,298 kilograms of cheese to the U.S. market
during 2005 with a Customs value of $1,797,000. The U.S. Department of
Agriculture has informed your Association that Romania’s U.S. tariff-rate quota
for 500,000 kilograms of Italian-type cheese will remain separate during the
2007 quota year, rather than being amalgamated with the EU’s tariff-rate quota
for this article.
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