Prodi: enlargement still on target despite farm aid row

Date: 13/06/02

By Martin Banks

COMMISSION President Romano Prodi says he remains 'absolutely confident' that EU enlargement will go ahead as planned despite a rift among member states over the highly charged issue of farm subsidies.

Speaking yesterday (12 June) at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Prodi said there were grounds for 'well-founded optimism' despite this week's decision by foreign ministers in Luxembourg to postpone talks on the level of agricultural aid to be offered to applicant countries.

He told MEPs: 'The roadmap for enlargement is still intact and I remain absolutely confident that we will have ten new members in our midst by 2004.'

Prodi's comments came as deputies urged EU leaders to redouble their efforts to resolve the rift that threatens to unravel the enlargement process.

Pat Cox, the Parliament's president, told European Voice the key message he would deliver at next week's summit of EU leaders in Seville was that enlargement remains fully on track.

'The EU is driving full-steam ahead with the process and is determined to make this year the year of enlargement,' he said.

'I want us to seize the moment and Seville will be a significant platform towards this.'

His message was echoed by many MEPs. 'We are looking to ministers to stick to the agreed timetable. Failure to do so will be looked on as unforgivable, not least by those applicant countries waiting to join,' said UK Socialist Simon Murphy.

But there were also hints of pessimism in the air. Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler admitted that the 'current impasse' over farm subsidies made meeting the timetable for enlargement 'more difficult'.

'Clearly we need to find a solution,' he said.

Graham Watson, the Liberal group leader, concurred: 'This week's failure to reach agreement represents a real threat to the timetable for enlargement. All concerned must re-double their efforts and not allow this particular deadlock to de-rail the process.'

Some 15,000 farmers had earlier converged on Strasbourg to demonstrate against the EU's plans to phase in subsidies for applicant states. Many of the protestors, who surrounded the Parliament building on the outskirts of the city, are against the newcomers receiving any agricultural aid at all.

The deadlock must be broken if the EU is to meet its end-of-year target for closing the 30 chapters aimed at harmonising laws and standards in candidate countries with those in existing member states.

Four countries - Germany, the UK, Sweden and The Netherlands - want to remove the issue of subsidies from the agriculture chapter to avoid wrecking the enlargement timetable. France, however, insists the issue cannot be swept under the carpet.

Enlargement Commissioner Gunter Verheugen said yesterday that it was 'not surprising' that important difficulties had emerged over direct payments for farmers. He urged member states to be realistic: 'The costs of enlargement should be thoroughly discussed, but so should the costs of non-enlargement. The citizens of Europe should be told that they will not get the considerable political and economic benefits of enlargement for free.

'The signal which came from Luxembourg on Monday created uncertainty in the candidate countries. Delays can always happen. But I warn against a delay that would result from member states failing to agree among themselves.'

European Commission President Romano Prodi said on 12 June 2002 that he remains 'absolutely confident' that EU enlargement will go ahead as planned, despite a rift among Member States over the issue of farm subsidies.