European Commission

Date: 08/02/1996

TALKS aimed at enlarging the EU to Central and Eastern Europe will not begin before the beginning of 1998, German Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler told the European Parliament this week. Seeking to reassure MEPs worried about the likely cost of enlargement and its impact on existing EU policies, notably the CAP and structural funding, Fischler said no decisions would be taken until a number of policy studies had been completed. A number of Central and Eastern European countries have association agreements with the EU and are awaiting full membership at the earliest opportunity.

COMMISSION officials have confirmed that the agricultural “clearance of accounts” will be delayed for at least two weeks, following heavy lobbying from, in particular, Irish Farm Minister Ivan Yates. Ireland faces probable fines of approximately 135 million ecu for malpractice in the beef sector during 1991/92, but is campaigning to have the fine reduced. Under the clearance of accounts, the Commission 'claws back' money claimed fraudulently from the EU farm budget.

STRESSING the need to ease the pressures on the EU's transport system, Commissioner Neil Kinnock this week underlined the importance of developing public passenger transport to combat rising congestion. He said the rewards for achieving this would be “huge”, while the penalties for not doing so would be “horrific”. He emphasised, however, that the Commission's contribution towards combating congestion could only be limited, pointing out that many of the actions necessary could only be taken at national, regional and local level.