Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-09-04-Speech-2-058"
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"en.20010904.3.2-058"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I will wind up my speech but, before I do, I should like to say something about the outcome of the Irish referendum, especially in connection with enlargement. The outcome of the referendum has led to all manner of speculation on the feasibility of enlargement. Although enlargement on a purely legal plane is feasible without ratification of the Treaty by all the Member States, it must nevertheless be underlined that non-ratification of the Treaty would send an entirely wrong political signal to the candidate countries at a time when a segment of public opinion in those countries is starting to question the merits of this process, which is perceived as a restriction on their newly regained sovereignty. I am always reminded of that prime minister of a candidate country who stated in Brussels recently: ‘We have been told for ten years that we will be joining in ten years’ time. Well, if that situation lasts too long, nations and governments will begin to lose their patience.’
In view of the magnitude and institutional repercussions of enlargement, I advocate the Union adopting a realistic, responsible and ambitious stance. The enlargement of the Union must indeed be responsible; this means that the vital functions of the Union must be safeguarded. Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, let it be clear that enlargement will put pressure on key components of the common or Community policy – the common agricultural policy and the structural funds policy spring to mind. To combat this will require courage and determination from the Member States and therefore from all of us.
Enlargement also requires that we adopt an ambitious attitude in terms of devising new common policies. The introduction of a genuine common policy on fighting crime and harmonising asylum and immigration policy is needed now more than ever. In addition, the Union must also step up its efforts in the field of the common foreign and security policy. The Union must acquire the resources in order to deal with a destabilising crisis on the borders of an enlarged Europe – the Europe of tomorrow, in other words. It is crucially important that the Union have the necessary tools to manage unstable areas.
As the initial accession stage approaches, the Union must enhance its dialogue with the neighbouring countries of an enlarged Europe. What will be important, and is already important, is to reassure these countries about the impact of enlargement in terms of partnership and association agreements. Our very fruitful and extensive dialogue with Russia, but not only with Russia, is a concrete example of this.
By way of conclusion, I should like to say that enlargement remains a political project. Whether this project is managed well or badly will determine whether Europe’s unity will be strengthened or weakened. In our society, a broadly-based debate must be held in order to clearly set out the risks and benefits of the project. Misunderstandings must be cleared up. The concerns of the citizens of the Member States, but also of the citizens of the candidate countries, must be taken seriously and must be responded to appropriately. As the initial accessions draw closer, more and clearer information must be provided than has been the case to date.
Enlargement offers enormous scope. However, it also imposes conditions and restrictions on both parties. The credibility of accession requires efforts on all sides. The Belgian Presidency has pledged to maintain the intensive pace of negotiations. It will ensure that the conditions for accession are met. The candidate countries will still need to make great efforts in order to implement the
. We have a very long way to go, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We can now start counting the months, rather than the years. We can now also start telling all the candidate countries with which we have begun negotiations that they are future Member States.
Finally, there is no doubt that the accession of, certainly, twelve countries in the short term and that of thirteen countries in the somewhat longer term will turn our Union into something other than what we have known so far. That has been the case with each new accession. Each new acceding state, each new acceding nation has added something extra. I will not enter into any detail, for that could lead to bad feeling and that is not my intention. It is evident that this will also happen when new Member States join. The adventure which we started around ten years ago – at least the concept of it – is thus reaching successful completion, but that success will only be achieved if we all make the efforts needed."@en1
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