Commission opens door to all six applicants

Date: 14/10/1999

By Simon Taylor

THE European Commission this week recommended starting negotiations with the six remaining candidates for EU membership, but warned Romania and Bulgaria that they would have to fulfil some conditions before winning a seat at the negotiating table.

Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen insisted that commencing talks with all 12 applicants must not lead to a loss of momentum in the reform process in the candidate countries. He also confirmed that the Commission planned to take a differentiated approach towards applicants in future, allowing each country to complete talks as and when it had implemented enough reforms to prepare for accession.

If this strategy is endorsed by Union leaders at their December summit in Helsinki, applicants will no longer have to negotiate on policy areas simultaneously, allowing stronger performers to leapfrog ahead.

In its report, the Commission calls on EU leaders to invite Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and Malta to start negotiations at the summit, but argues that Bulgaria should not be allowed to begin talks until it sets a date for closing the Kozloduy nuclear plant and has made confirmed progress in introducing economic reforms. It also recommends making Romania wait until its economic progress has been checked and it provides more funds for state orphanages.

Verheugen argued that talks with Turkey should not begin yet because of its poor record on human rights and democracy. But he said the summit should confirm it as a full candidate for accession as an incentive to reform, and proposed measures to help Ankara prepare for eventual membership.

The Commissioner said it was too early to set dates for applicants to join the Union, but urged EU leaders to agree in Helsinki to admit those candidates which meet the entry requirements from 2002.

The recommendations were accompanied by progress reports on the applicants' preparations for membership. The Commission warned that Slovakia, Lithuania and Bulgaria needed to do more to transform their economies to run on market principles, and described Romania's situation as "very worrying". Poland and the Czech Republic also came under fire for slow progress in passing new legislation.

The European Commission this week recommended starting negotiations with the six remaining candidates for EU membership, but warned Romania and Bulgaria that they would have to fulfil some conditions before winning a seat at the negotiating table.