| Author (Person) | Davies, Eric | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Title | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Details | 13.10.02 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 12/10/2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On 9 October 2002 the European Commission published its latest Regular Reports on the Candidate Countries' progress towards accession, together with an accompanying Strategy Paper Towards the Enlarged Union. On the basis of the Reports, the Commission - as had been widely predicted - recommended to the Council of the European Union that accession negotiations with 10 countries should be concluded by the end of 2002:
Speaking on behalf of the EU Presidency, currently held by Denmark, the Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, welcomed the Commission's decision:
However, despite the generally positive reception which greeted the Commission's announcements, the attention of the EU Member States and the Candidate Countries is now focused on Ireland, where, on 19 October, a second referendum on the Treaty of Nice will be held. A 'no' vote would provide a serious obstacle, if not a fatal blow, to the current enlargement round because, under existing treaties, the maximum number of new members which the Union can accommodate is five. The 2002 Reports The Regular Reports and Strategy Paper were published a month early this year, so as to give more time for negotiations to be completed with the 'successful' applicants. The Reports measure Candidate Countries' progress towards meeting the Copenhagen Criteria, which cover political and economic issues and the implementation of the acquis. They confirm that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia 'fulfil the political criteria and will have fulfilled the economic and acquis criteria within the timeframe foreseen for accession by the European Council.' These 10 will therefore be ready to join the EU from the beginning of 2004, and the Commission's recommendation to the Council is that accession negotiations be completed by the end of this year and an Accession Treaty signed in Spring 2003. As regards the implementation of the acquis, the Commission's assessment is that the Candidate Countries have 'generally reached a high degree of alignment in many areas' although there are still some outstanding issues, particularly with respect to ensuring appropriate administrative capacity in a number of areas: the internal market, competition, consumer policy, environment, transport, energy, social policy and employment, justice and home affairs and taxation areas. The Reports also identify problem areas for particular Candidate Countries, including customs, agriculture, regional policy and financial control. The Commission has pledged to monitor the situation and will inform the Council of developments. It will also produce 'a comprehensive monitoring report for the Council and the European Parliament' six months before accession. Once the new members have joined the Union, the Commission will 'ensure proper implementation of EU law in the new Member States with the same methods and rigour as in present Member States.' The success of the enlargement process is of great importance to the Danish Presidency: the 1993 Danish Presidency established the Copenhagen Criteria which aspiring EU members must comply with and the Danes would like to conclude the current negotiations at the December 2002 European Council in Copenhagen, thus bringing the process full circle. The European Commission is also aware of the significance of enlargement: speaking to the European Parliament on 9 October, Commission President Romano Prodi said
Mr Prodi also commented on criticisms of the enlargement process, saying that the 'risks and costs' must be acknowledged, but that more needed to be heard about the benefits of enlargement: stability in Europe; unification of an artificially divided continent; creation of the biggest single market in the world. Enlargement will be high on the agenda of the Brussels European Council on 24-25 October. The Danish Presidency has also organised a special 'Enlargement Summit' on 28 October, especially for the Candidate Countries. And then there were three... Three applicant countries will not be joining the EU in the immediate future. Bulgaria and Romania were considered not to have made sufficient progress. Their own target for accession is now 2007. The Commission described that as 'realistic' and said it 'will do its utmost to ensure that this objective can be attained.' Preparations will include the drafting of detailed 'roadmaps' for Bulgaria and Romania to follow, prior to the December 2002 Copenhagen European Council. The Commission intends to focus more closely on judicial and administrative reform in the two countries, and to increase 'gradually but considerably' the financial assistance provided to them. Turkey still has no date for starting accession negotiations. Although the Commission welcomed the 'considerable progress' made towards meeting the Copenhagen political criteria (including the general abolition of the death penalty, and the lifting of a state of emergency in two of four provinces where it had applied), it concluded that Turkey does not yet fully meet those requirements. However, the Commission recommends that EU financial support for Turkey should be increased 'to enable Turkey to strengthen its public administration, support the adoption of the acquis, and to facilitate Turkey's integration into the European economy.' In a surprise move the day after the Commission's decision was announced, Greece urged the other Member States to give Turkey a date for starting negotiations when they meet at the Copenhagen European Council. Foreign Minister Papandreou said the EU should send 'a positive message to Turkey' and, asked if that meant setting a date for negotiations to start, replied 'Why not, we can say even that.' Ireland's referendum and other potential obstacles On 19 October 2002 the people of Ireland will vote on whether to accept the Treaty of Nice. The entry into force of the Treaty now depends on Ireland alone, as the 14 other Member States have already ratified it. For the Irish it will be their second opportunity to vote on the Treaty: they initially rejected it in June 2001, with 54% voting against in one of the country's lowest turnouts at the polls - less than a third of those eligible voted. The Treaty of Nice was intended to pave the way for EU enlargement and, although it fell short of early expectations (important decisions on the Union's structure were deferred and are now being considered by the Convention on the Future of Europe in advance of the 2004 Intergovernmental Conference) it must be ratified by the Member States if enlargement is to go ahead as planned. Ireland is unique amongst the 15 Member States in having a constitution which requires the Treaty to be subject to a popular vote. Worried by signs that the response might again be 'no', the Ministers for European Affairs of the Candidate Countries, meeting in Warsaw on 25 September, urged the Irish people to vote 'yes' and help heal 'a century of pain and suffering'. Referenda on EU membership must also be held in four of the Candidate Countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. It is possible that the referenda might be coordinated in an effort to influence voters, with the countries most likely to vote 'yes' going to the polls first in an effort to sway voters in the countries next in line. If so, the order is likely to be Hungary, followed by Slovakia then Poland, with people in the Czech Republic last in line. In addition, the accession negotiations themselves are not yet complete, with three of the 31 'Chapters' of the Community acquis - agriculture, financial provisions and institutions - still under discussion. The EU must itself make a number of other decisions with implications for enlargement, including what to do about reforming the Common Agricultural Policy - an issue which has further complicated already delicate negotiations on agriculture and funding with the Candidate Countries. If agreement on the CAP is not reached before enlargement, then some new Member States might try to block reforms, because their farmers would benefit more from the current system. Referring to the Commission's recommendations on who should join the EU, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said:
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Further and subsequent information on the subject of this In Focus can be found by an 'Advanced Search' in European Sources Online by inserting 'top level domain' or another appropriate term in the keyword field. Eric Davies, The 2002 Regular Reports on the Candidate Countries' progress towards accession, published by the European Commission on 9 October 2002, pave the way for the expansion of the EU in 2004 so long as the irish vote to ratify the Nice Treaty at the second-time of asking. |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
