At 20:54 -0500 01/12/29, kilopascal wrote: >2001-12-29 > >Hmmm. The news coming out of Laeken a few weeks back made reference that 12 >nations will join the EU before 2005 and boost the population of the EU to >500 Mpeople. Does any one know what countries these could be? > >I can think of: Litauen, Estland, Lettland, Polen, Die Tchechei, Die >Slowakei, Ungarn, and Slowenien. > >But, this is only 8. Now, could the other 4 be Norwegen, Der Schweiz, and >two of the Jugoslaw states? Or would the 4 be Bosien, Montenegro, >Mazedonien, Kroatien? What about Bulgaien? Or even Ukraine?
Here is an excerpt of the official "conclusions of the Presidency" of the Laeken summit : >In recent months considerable progress has been made in the >negotiations and certain delays >have been made good. The European Union is determined to bring the >accession negotiations >with the candidate countries that are ready to a successful >conclusion by the end of 2002, so >that those countries can take part in the European Parliament >elections in 2004 as members. >Candidacies will continue to be assessed on their own merits, in >accordance with the principle >of differentiation. The European Council agrees with the report of >the Commission, which >considers that, if the present rate of progress of the negotiations >and reforms in the candidate >States is maintained, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, >Malta, Poland, the Slovak >Republic, the Czech Republic and Slovenia could be ready. It >appreciates the efforts made by >Bulgaria and Romania and would encourage them to continue on that >course. If those >countries are to receive specific support, there must be a precise >framework with a timetable >and an appropriate roadmap, the objective being to open negotiations >with those countries on >all chapters in 2002. Please note that if the first 10 countries have a reasonable chance to take part in the 2004 elections, the probability for Bulgaria and especially Romania is much smaller. Neither Norway nor Switzerland are officially candidates to joining the EU. Louis
