Summary and Background
3.The Act relates to the Treaty concerning the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union signed in Luxembourg on 25 April 2005 (“the Accession Treaty”).
4.The Accession Treaty provides for the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union on 1 January 2007. It allows for the possibility that ‘the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe’ (or “Constitutional Treaty”), signed by the 25 Member States of the EU in Rome on 29 October 2004, is in force at that time (see sub-paragraph b) on the ‘Accession Protocol’ below). Equally the Accession Treaty allows for a scenario where the Constitutional Treaty is not in force at that time, and indeed one where it never comes into force (see sub-paragraph c) on the Act of Accession below). The Accession Treaty falls into four parts:
5.The Government has presented the Accession Treaty to Parliament as a Command Paper (Cm 6657), published by the HMSO, and has also submitted an Explanatory Memorandum, which summarises and analyses the contents of the Accession Treaty. Copies of the Explanatory Memorandum can be found on the website of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office: www.fco.gov.uk.
6.The Act does two things. Firstly, it enables the Accession Treaty to be implemented in UK law, and approves the provisions of the Accession Treaty insofar as they relate to the powers of the European Parliament. Secondly, it provides a power to make provision on the entitlement of Bulgarian and Romanian workers to work and reside in the UK.