"The lesson is that if there are things you don't seem able to resolve in the run-up to accession, then we are not confident you will able to achieve them afterwards," said Katinka Barysch from the Centre for European Reform in London.
For Romania, the foot-dragging means slower transformation from the brutal pre-1989 regime of Nicolae Ceausescu towards democracy as Romanians are reluctant to trust state institutions. According to Transparency International, Romania is the most graft-prone EU member.
Its ruling centrists argue they are doing what they can to combat widespread abuse and reform the judiciary.
They point to statistics from the anti-corruption prosecutors' office (DNA) showing hundreds of people have been indicted in recent months and dozens convicted.
"Of course there is resistance to strong reforms," Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu told Reuters. "I wouldn't believe in reform measures that do not face the tendency to preserve the status quo. However...I am happy to see that both the government and parliament showed commitment to fighting corruption."
Despite the tough rhetoric, results in the war on top-level crime are scant.
The Romania Libera daily newspaper said its research showed almost every county is fielding a candidate for the local election who is either being investigated for graft or has faced accusations of abuse.
One of the highest-ranking officials to be sentenced to jail on graft charges, Nicolae Mischie, is now running for office again, after switching allegiances from the ex-communist PSD to the nationalist New Generation Party of soccer tycoon Becali.
Mischie was sentenced to four years for abusing power while he headed a county council in southwestern Romania.
DEEP ROOTS
Civil society observers and diplomats say too many Romanian politicians are entangled in powerful interest groups that oppose reforms while others simply protect their own practices.
An example, they say, is a protracted parliamentary debate over Romania's new criminal procedure code, which some observers have said could effectively prevent prosecution of graft if introduced in its full form.
Romania's Senate has improved the draft, including removing a ban on wire-tapping phones before pressing criminal charges against a suspect. But resistance is strong.
"The system is far more powerful than we thought," said Stefan. "People are defending themselves like crazy."
In coming weeks, parliament is also due to decide whether to approve prosecutors' request to investigate former Prime Minister Nastase, former Transport Minister Miron Mitrea and current Labour Minister Paul Pacuraru. All three face corruption charges which they deny and label as politically motivated.
"Nobody believes the deputies will hand them (the politicians) over to the Justice Hall," wrote Mircea Marian, a columnist for Evenimentul Zilei daily. "Their files of corruption will be lost forever."
