The foreign ministers of EU countries has endorsed the European Commission (EC) recommendation that Bulgaria and Romania join the EU on January 1 2007 rather than waiting until 2008, Reuters reported.

Bulgaria and Romania’s EU accession would increase the number of EU member countries to 27, Reuters said.

The ministers called on the two countries to continue reforms and approved the EC’s proposal to supervise their progress in the fields of judicial system reforms, the fight against organised crime and corruption.

The ministers also agreed to withhold some EU funds if Bulgaria and Romania failed to carry out reforms, Reuters said.

The endorsement of the EU foreign ministers was a formality, Reuters said. Bulgaria and Romania would automatically become EU members in January unless the EU postponed their accession if reforms went unfulfilled.