Romania's travails with democracy and accession to the European Union

The defeat of the Social Democratic Party (PSD, Partidul Social Democrat) in the 2004 elections in Romania by the liberal centre – right coalition, the Alliance of Truth and Justice (DA, Alianta Dreptate si Adevar), and the country's membership of the European Union (EU) seem to indicate the end of a troubled post-communist transition. However, the reforms mandated by the EU in the justice system have not fundamentally altered the nature of the political elite. For the past two years the political establishment has been unstable and political parties continue to hinder the development of an accountable and transparent political system. The EU's emphasis on speedy implementation of reforms has resulted in an inconsistent application of political conditionality, which has left Romania's democratisation process incomplete.