6 - 12 September 2001

“Big Bang” enlargement of the EU possible

• Malta among 10 countries to join at one go

by Ivan Brincat

Ten countries, including Malta are likely to become members of the EU in the next enlargement round. And these countries are expected to finish negotiations on membership by the end of next year, Enlargement Commissioner Gunther Verheugen told German ambassadors gathered in Berlin earlier this week.
Mr Verheugen is therefore not excluding the possibility of a “big bang” enlargement with the only countries excluded being Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.
The accession treaties would have to be ratified in the parliaments of each of the 15 EU member States and the easiest way would be to ratify them at the same time.
The 10 countries which are
likely to become members of the EU are: Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament in a plenary session in Strasbourg has urged the European Union to proceed with a speedy enlargement even if the Nice Treaty (on institutional reform to prepare the Union for receiving new members) is not ratified by all member States.
During the debate in Parliament, Mr Verheugen said the European Commission was counting on Parliament’s continued support in
the decisive final phase of the
negotiations.
He said enlargement will happen and will happen soon. “We have passed the point of no return and the process is irreversible,” he told MEPs.
Mr Verheugen believes that the Treaty of Nice has set the course for the candidate countries’ earnest desire to see the negotiations geared to substantive issues. The road map tabled by the European Commission and approved by heads of State and government is more than just a negotiating timetable. It is in essence a commitment by the 15 member States to adopt common positions within certain time frames and this also goes for areas where interests diverge significantly.
The Enlargement Commissioner said the adoption of the acquis communautaire is progressing faster and more smoothly. He said that candidates are showing more flexibility in adjusting their positions so that genuine negotiating breakthroughs have been achieved.
Mr Verheugen said that at the Goteborg summit, the desired time- frame for the first accessions was clearly set out. “This happened at the right time. On the one hand, it enabled us to define the progress made in the negotiations and to mark out the finishing line for those applicants which are adequately prepared. On the other hand,
the Goteborg decision gives the candidate countries’ parliaments and governments the necessary political tailwind to mobilise the whole country and confront the doubters, and doubters there are.”
The Enlargement Commissioner said it was a wise decision not to give any specific dates for individual countries or group of countries. The core principles of the enlargement process, individual merit, differentiation and the chance to catch up are working well. He said: “If we stick to these principles, this produces an accession scenario justified solely by the outcome of the negotiations. The Commission shall abide resolutely by this approach.”
He countered the view that decisions will be purely political. “The Commission will not propose conclusion of the accession treaty for each applicant country until such time as it is convinced that the applicant is properly prepared and meets all the conditions.”
Mr Verheugen in his speech said that he would not speculate on how many new member States will be represented in the next European Parliament and which ones.
“All I can say is that of the 12 with which we are negotiating, 10 have decided to adopt the Goteborg timeframe. It would be a serious breach of trust if we were now to say to individual countries: you are definitely “in” or you “have to wait a bit”. So we must in ourselves be ready to accept an initial group of up to 10 candidate countries.”
Among the controversial issues which lie ahead are free movement of labour, justice and home affairs, competition, taxation, transport, budget, regional policy and
agriculture.
Malta has closed the free movement of labour chapter and no difficulties are foreseen in the closure of the justice and home affairs chapter.
He said that for issues relating to taxation, competition and agriculture, these throw up enormous social issues. “We must decide how much flexibility the Union can tolerate so that, on the day after they join, the future member States do not experience enlargement as a social upheaval.”
“The state of play on meeting the Copenhagen criteria will be set out in the Commission’s progress reports for the year 2001. These will be discussed and adopted at the beginning of November.”
He said the next Commission strategy paper will focus on an assessment of the third Copenhagen criteria, namely implementation of the entire body of EU law.
“This is a logical sequence. The emphasis was on adoption of the acquis communautaire as such. Now the crucial thing is the ability to implement and apply it in its entirety.”
He said that there were enormous shortfalls in this field over the last year. “Continuous serious shortfalls in administrative capacity can become serious obstacles to accession,” he said.