Enlargement train slow to leave station

Date: 17/12/1998

By Simon Taylor

ENLARGING the European Union is often compared to a train gathering speed as it leaves the station but still moving slow enough for late arrivals to jump on before the last carriage leaves the platform.

To the delight of the Austrians, who would otherwise have had little to show for their uneventful presidency, the enlargement train started moving in the autumn of 1998 with the launch of formal negotiations.

But no one is under any illusion that the process will be completed swiftly and everyone knows that the most difficult battles lie ahead. EU governments could not even agree to close negotiations on seven of the most straight-forward parts of EU legislation as requested by the applicants.

Talks with the five former Communist countries plus Cyprus in the 'first-wave' group on whether they could sign up to the EU's common foreign and security policy threatened to unravel the carefully crafted political unity over the enlargement process.

France raised Greek hackles by suggesting that it might prove difficult to let a country like Cyprus into the EU which was politically divided and partially under military occupation by a foreign power.

In a mammoth assessment of the 12 countries' progress towards meeting the entry criteria in the autumn, the Commission warned all the applicants to keep up the pace of reform, despite strong performances by Poland and Hungary in particular.

Nevertheless, the six-first wave countries were able to make themselves comfortable on the enlargement train, while those countries stuck in the second wave were still trying to buy tickets for the journey.

As a reward for its impressive economic performance in 1998, Latvia was told that it would be able to join the leading candidates before the end of next year provided it kept up the momentum of reform.

Pressure from Denmark and Sweden meant that Lithuania was also sent a very encouraging message at last weekend's Vienna summit, although the Commission continued to express concern over the slow progress in closing the Ignalina nuclear power plant.

Slovakia's new government under Mikulas Dzurindas, with its ambitious programme aimed at cleaning up the country's image following the autocratic rule of ex-premier Vladimir Meciar, was given a warm welcome by EU governments and told that it could board the train soon. But Bratislava's plea for an early report recognising the progress made by the new administration fell on deaf ears as the Commission insisted on seeing real changes before passing judgement.

Malta was also made to wait for a report on its revived application for EU membership, despite incoming prime minister Eddie Fenech Adami's high-profile bid to get back on to the train.

The Commission obediently delayed the report after EU governments made it clear that they wanted to avoid the Vienna summit deteriorating into a haggling match over who should be invited to join the first wave.

Although the best performing second-wave countries continued to tout their achievements to anyone who would listen, they were wise enough to tone down any expressions of disappointment about having to wait until 1999 to join the party. The young men and women who populate the governments in capitals from Riga to Vilnius and south to Bratislava know the last carriage will not leave the station for at least 12 months, so there is no point pulling the emergency brake now.

Even though the Commission gave Ankara a progress report like the other 11 candidate countries, EU governments remain as divided as ever over the republic's chances of accession.

Greece continued to resist any gesture which might imply Ankara was being treated like the other applicants, while other countries tried to keep Turkey's hopes of eventual membership alive to encourage better relations with the EU. Relations sank to their lowest point this year as a row erupted over Italy's refusal to extradite the Kurdish leader Adullah Öcalan to Turkey.

Feature forms part of the European Voice 'Review of the Year'.