| Author (Person) | Davies, Eric | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Title | In Focus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Details | 14.4.03 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 14/04/2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Beethoven's Ode to Joy - the European Union's anthem - was heard in Budapest as many Hungarians celebrated a referendum result confirming they will be joining the EU in May 2004. An early assessment suggested that some 84% of voters had said 'yes' to EU membership. Concern was, however, expressed over the low turnout, with less than half of those eligible (some 46%) actually participating in the poll. Hungarians' support for membership has declined in the past year, and the referendum result was thought to be disappointing and even embarrassing for the government. Hungary's referendum on EU membership was the third, with Malta and Slovenia already having voted. Dates of the remaining accession referenda are: 16-17 May - Slovakia 'God willing, on Wednesday I will be in Athens to sign the accession treaty' was reportedly the reaction of Malta's Prime Minister, Fenech Adami, waiting for the result of Malta's general election on 12 April. The election was called following the island's March referendum on EU membership, when Mr Fenech Adami - soon to be Malta's longest serving Prime Minister - failed to win an absolute majority. In both polls, voters had to choose between the Nationalist Party's policy of joining the EU and the Labour Party's policy of not signing the Treaty, but of developing a 'special partnership' with the Union. Early results suggested that Mr Fenech Adami's Nationalist Party had won between 51% and 52% of the vote, with a turnout of some 96% of voters (297,000 people). The BBC reported that 'The level of interest in the Maltese vote was such that plane loads of Maltese expatriates returned to vote, benefiting from reduced fares by state-owned Air Malta' and that hospital patients also participated, some turning up at polling stations 'on stretchers, wheelchairs or crutches.' Providing the result is confirmed, Mr Fenech Adami should therefore be joining other dignitaries in Athens on 16 April for the signing of the Accession Treaty. On 10 April Poland announced a surprise veto on a deal intended to enable the 10 Acceding Countries to join the European Economic Area. Negotiations on extending the EEA opened on 9 January, with a meeting between the EEA members - Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway - and representatives of the 15 EU Member States and the 10 members-to-be (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) In what might be a sign of things to come post-enlargement, when agreements will have to be reached amongst 25 EU members, Poland decided to use the veto after its demand for higher fishing quotas was apparently ignored. It seems unlikely that the whole EEA-accession deal will be re-negotiated. Instead, suggested the FT, the European Commission will probably try to persuade Poland to drop its opposition to the package. Links:
Eric Davies Background and reporting on the week's main stories in the European Union and the wider Europe. |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
