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Enlargement'sgrowing pains
The Guardian - United Kingdom; Jun 23, 2005
WORLD BRIEFING SIMON TISDALL
EU commissioner Olli Rehn is battling hard to convince aspiring
members that European enlargement is on course despite the
constitutional debacle and last week's Brussels summit fracas.
But his convictions fly in the face of uncomfortable political
facts. For Europe, bigger is no longer necessarily better.
"Enlargement was a survivor of the summit, though it was a close
call," Mr Rehn declared this week. Romania and Bulgaria would be
admitted as planned in 2007 if all entry criteria were met, he
said. Talks with Turkey should also begin on time in October.
Mr Rehn said it would be "irresponsible to disrupt a valuable
process".
"Sticking to one's word is a basic [EU] value," he said.
As EU enlargement chief, Mr Rehn has a job to do. But he risks
glossing over the anti-enlargement verdict implicit in the French and
Dutch no votes on the constitution.
According to a minister who attended the Brussels summit,
"enlargement" has become a dirty word. A vaguer formulation concerning
future "European perspectives" is now preferred.
Key governments have concluded that voters were, in part, registering
disapproval of last year's "big bang" admission of 10 poorer, mostly
east European countries, the minister said.
Despite Mr Rehn's best efforts, two new political realities appear
unavoidable.
One is that candidate countries - Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and
Turkey - will face closer scrutiny.
Their record on human rights, judicial and penal reform, corruption
and media freedom "will be looked at with a more powerful magni fying
glass", said Franco Frattini, the EU's justice and security
commissioner.
Turkey faces an even rougher ride. Ankara must also tackle disputes
concerning Cyprus and Armenia. And Paris confirmed this week that
Turkey could be blackballed in a one-off French referendum.
The former commission president Romano Prodi said yesterday that "the
conditions are no longer there for Turkey's entry in the short or
medium term".
All these countries' hopes are also linked to agreement on a long-term
EU budget.
The other harsh post-constitution reality is that Serbia-Montenegro,
Bosnia, Macedonia and Albania can now expect a more protracted
application process - with no guarantee of success.
That realisation has set alarm bells ringing across the region, with
concern focusing on still simmering Kosovo. "Europe cannot be stable
without the Balkans," warned Vlado Buckovski, Macedonia's prime
minister.
The prospect of a neglected Balkan region sliding back into chaos led
a group of Europe's elder statesmen, including Carl Bildt and
Germany's former president Richard von Weizsacker to issued a joint
appeal last week: "Europe can survive the crisis with its
constitution. "What Europe cannot survive is a new Srebrenica."
A backlash born of disappointed hopes is a possibility.
Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, Romania's foreign minister, said this week
that he expected the EU to honour its agreement to admit his country,
although a one-year delay until 2008 was possible.
But dishing the Balkans could be "disastrous", he said.
Erhard Busek, special coordinator of south-east Europe's stability
pact, said he was worried about a lack of leadership on enlargement.
"The Balkan countries have to learn to depend on themselves, to learn
self-responsibility," he said. "But they must stay on the EU
agenda. There's no alternative."
The Guardian - United Kingdom; Jun 23, 2005
WORLD BRIEFING SIMON TISDALL
EU commissioner Olli Rehn is battling hard to convince aspiring
members that European enlargement is on course despite the
constitutional debacle and last week's Brussels summit fracas.
But his convictions fly in the face of uncomfortable political
facts. For Europe, bigger is no longer necessarily better.
"Enlargement was a survivor of the summit, though it was a close
call," Mr Rehn declared this week. Romania and Bulgaria would be
admitted as planned in 2007 if all entry criteria were met, he
said. Talks with Turkey should also begin on time in October.
Mr Rehn said it would be "irresponsible to disrupt a valuable
process".
"Sticking to one's word is a basic [EU] value," he said.
As EU enlargement chief, Mr Rehn has a job to do. But he risks
glossing over the anti-enlargement verdict implicit in the French and
Dutch no votes on the constitution.
According to a minister who attended the Brussels summit,
"enlargement" has become a dirty word. A vaguer formulation concerning
future "European perspectives" is now preferred.
Key governments have concluded that voters were, in part, registering
disapproval of last year's "big bang" admission of 10 poorer, mostly
east European countries, the minister said.
Despite Mr Rehn's best efforts, two new political realities appear
unavoidable.
One is that candidate countries - Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and
Turkey - will face closer scrutiny.
Their record on human rights, judicial and penal reform, corruption
and media freedom "will be looked at with a more powerful magni fying
glass", said Franco Frattini, the EU's justice and security
commissioner.
Turkey faces an even rougher ride. Ankara must also tackle disputes
concerning Cyprus and Armenia. And Paris confirmed this week that
Turkey could be blackballed in a one-off French referendum.
The former commission president Romano Prodi said yesterday that "the
conditions are no longer there for Turkey's entry in the short or
medium term".
All these countries' hopes are also linked to agreement on a long-term
EU budget.
The other harsh post-constitution reality is that Serbia-Montenegro,
Bosnia, Macedonia and Albania can now expect a more protracted
application process - with no guarantee of success.
That realisation has set alarm bells ringing across the region, with
concern focusing on still simmering Kosovo. "Europe cannot be stable
without the Balkans," warned Vlado Buckovski, Macedonia's prime
minister.
The prospect of a neglected Balkan region sliding back into chaos led
a group of Europe's elder statesmen, including Carl Bildt and
Germany's former president Richard von Weizsacker to issued a joint
appeal last week: "Europe can survive the crisis with its
constitution. "What Europe cannot survive is a new Srebrenica."
A backlash born of disappointed hopes is a possibility.
Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, Romania's foreign minister, said this week
that he expected the EU to honour its agreement to admit his country,
although a one-year delay until 2008 was possible.
But dishing the Balkans could be "disastrous", he said.
Erhard Busek, special coordinator of south-east Europe's stability
pact, said he was worried about a lack of leadership on enlargement.
"The Balkan countries have to learn to depend on themselves, to learn
self-responsibility," he said. "But they must stay on the EU
agenda. There's no alternative."