Enlargement: Official date for accession postponed until 1 April 2004, November 2002

The historic date when the European Union will expand to 25 Member States has been set as 1 April 2004 following agreement by European foreign ministers at a meeting of the General Affairs Council in Brussels on 18 November 2002.

Whilst most had assumed that the ten candidate countries would join on 1 January 2004 the date has been postponed for practical reasons. All the current Member States and each of the candidate countries are required to pass the accession treaty through Parliament, a process that is expected to take about a year considering the 6,000 pages that the treaty document is expected to contain. With the accession treaty due to be signed under the Greek Presidency in Athens in April 2003, it was believed to be 'too optimistic' to aim for any date before April 2004.

Even with the new date, the candidate countries will still be able to achieve the goal of participating in the next round of European Parliament elections, which are scheduled to take place in June 2004. It has also been agreed that all the accession countries will participate fully in the next intergovernmental conference (IGC), which will probably take place in mid-2003, since as soon to be Member States they would all have to ratify any new European treaty. The IGC, having discussed the work of the Convention on the Future of Europe, will be responsible for drafting a new EU convention, possibly an EU constitution, that will succeed the Treaty of Nice. The remaining candidate countries, such as Bulgaria and Romania, will be entitled to participate as observers at the IGC.

The majority of the candidate countries appeared to welcome the agreement on the enlargement date, especially as it will save them money. Whilst the candidate countries will now only be obliged to pay two-thirds of their annual budget contributions they will still be entitled to the full annual amount of EU subsidies. Estimates suggest that this could save Poland, the largest candidate country, as much as as €800m on monthly dues. However the Czech Republic have vehemently opposed the postponement, claiming that ratification was achievable by 1 January 2004. The country's foreign minister Cyril Svoboda told the press that it was out of the question, adding:

'We always said that we want to be members of the Union from the beginning of the year 2004'.

Whilst 1 April 2004 may now be the official date on the horizon, the real deadline for both the European Union and the candidate countries is 11-12 December 2002 when both sides gather for the European Council in Copenhagen to conclude negotiations. The Presidency and the European Commission are set to intensify their efforts in the coming weeks in order to elaborate an offer to the candidate countries on all remaining issues, including those with a financial impact. Sensitive issues such as direct payments to farmers and farming quotas have yet to be resolved and there appears to be little room for manoeuvre on the part of the European Union although it has been suggested that a compromise could be found by benefiting candidate countries in other areas through higher milk quotas and more money for strengthening border controls.

Links:
Council of the European Union:
	18.11.02:	Press Release: General Affairs Council, Brussels [PRES/02/350]
European Commission:
	DG Enlargement: Index
BBC News Online:
	18.11.02:	EU expansion delayed
	Q&A: Enlargement
The European Policy Centre:
	Clearing the road to a European Union of 25 [October 2002]
European Sources Online: In Focus:
	Ten countries get green light as all eyes turn to Ireland
	Ten candidate countries get the go ahead from EU foreign ministers to join by 2004
European Sources Online: Topic Guide:
	Enlargement of the European Union

Helen Bower
Compiled: Tuesday, 19 November 2002

At a meeting of the General Affairs Council in Brussels on 18 November 2002 European foreign ministers agred that the next expansion of the European Union will take place on 1 May 2004.