Enlargement ‘top priority’ says Denmark’s premier

Date: 23/05/02

By Martin Banks

DANISH Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen says completing the enlargement 'circle' is his top priority when his country takes over the EU presidency in just over five weeks.

Rasmussen says, however, that completing negotiations with the candidate countries is only one of a number of aims on his 'shopping list'.

Other goals for the six-month Danish presidency include:

• Fighting terrorism;
• Agreeing a new Common Fisheries Policy;
• Developing EU relations with Russia, and;
• Pushing forward reform of the EU.

'It is clear that the Danish presidency will have a very substantial agenda,' the Danish premier said.

'We already have a clear picture of the challenges facing us and the course we would like to steer to deal with them.'

He said the main priority will be concluding enlargementnegotiations with those accession countries that are ready to join the EU in 2004.

'The groundwork for the enlargement process was established at the European Council in Copenhagen in 1993.

'At that time we defined the so-called Copenhagen criteria that have since been the yardstick against which the candidates have assessed their progress.'

Rasmussen said he now aimed to complete the circle 'from Copenhagen to Copenhagen' by welcoming the first new members at the summit in the Danish capital on 12 and 13 December.

Denmark will seek to finalise negotiations with as many candidate countries as possible.

'That is not an easy task. It will require readiness for compromises on the part of the current member states as well as the candidate countries,' he said.

Rasmussen added that Denmark will 'do its utmost' to carry forward the EU agenda, with the emphasis being on achieving greater transparency.

'Throughout our presidency we will seek to put into practice what we in the Union agree in principle: that decisions should be taken as openly as possible,' he said.

Report of Danish priorities for its forthcoming EU Presidency, July-December 2002.