Expansion has not prevented “widening and deepening”

Date: 10/04/03

By Dennis Abbott

THE EU has a history of successful enlargements. In 1973 Britain, Denmark and Ireland joined; then it welcomed Greece in 1981 followed by Spain and Portugal in 1986 after the fall of dictatorships. In 1995 it took in Austria, Finland and Sweden.

THE EU has a history of successful enlargements. In 1973 Britain, Denmark and Ireland joined; then it welcomed Greece in 1981 followed by Spain and Portugal in 1986 after the fall of dictatorships. In 1995 it took in Austria, Finland and Sweden.

In 30 years, the Union has grown from its original six members with a population of 185 million to an international entity of 15 members with 375 million people. The latest expansion will increase the membership to 25 members with 450 million citizens.

Wim Kok, the former Dutch prime minister, has just published a report for the European Commission on the achievements and challenges of the upcoming enlargement.

He writes: "Widening has not prevented deepening. At the time of the enlargement with Spain and Portugal the EU launched the single market programme and policies for the environment, social cohesion, research, technology and social affairs.

"In 1992 the Maastricht Treaty prepared economic and monetary union while the accession of Sweden, Finland and Austria was under way. Then the EU launched a common currency [the euro] while it simultaneously negotiated the present round of enlargement."

However, Kok acknowledges the divisions exposed between member states over Iraq and expresses caution about how far integration should go:

"Europe is, or ought to be, a true political Union," he writes. "If that political wish is shared by the politicians and the peoples of Europe, then that will be the reality. If that political wish does not exist (or has ceased to exist) then we should stop deluding ourselves."

Since the 1990s, the EU has invested in the prospective member states in order to assist their preparation for accession, with a budgetary cost of more than €3 billion per year since 2000.

After accession, the EU's net expenditure in new member states will be "modest", according to Kok's report.

Under the deal reached at the Copenhagen summit in December 2002, the cost to the end of 2006 is a maximum of €40.8bn including agricultural subsidies, infrastructure and regional aid, and funds to help improve nuclear safety, public administration and border protection.

New members will contribute approximately €15bn to the EU budget. Since they will not be able to make full use of all the finds allocated to them, the net budgetary cost of enlargement for the period to 2006 in terms of cash actually disbursed is likely to be around €10bn, claims Kok. (Some of the funding put aside for new members will be paid after 2006.)

Article discusses a report published for the European Commission by Wim Kok, the former Dutch prime minister, on the achievements and challenges of the upcoming enlargement.