The slow adaptation of the new member states: the Romanian parliament and the European integration

Romania joined the European Union (EU) on 1 January 2007, but economic relations were established long before this date. In 1967, Romania was the first Central Eastern European country to establish official relations with the European Economic Community (EEC) when it signed a series of agreements on the export of food products. These agreements exempted Romania from certain taxes, while obliging it to maintain a minimum price for the products it exported to the EEC. However, the orientation of the communist regime and its frequent violations of fundamental human rights meant that diplomatic relations between Romania and the EU began only after the end of the Cold War, in particular on 1 February 1993 when an EU Association Agreement was signed. © Claudia Hefftler, Christine Neuhold, Olivier Rozenberg and Julie Smith 2015, Respective authors 2015 and Wolfgang Wessels 2015