EU to Complete Enlargement Negotiations, Fix Date for Talks on Turkey

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, December 13, 2002

EU to Complete Enlargement Negotiations, Fix Date for Talks on Turkey

European Union (EU) leaders will have their hands full on Thursday as they opened a two-day summit meeting to deal with the 15-nation bloc's largest ever enlargement.

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European Union (EU) leaders will have their hands full on Thursday as they opened a two-day summit meeting to deal with the 15-nation bloc's largest ever enlargement.

The summit is supposed to complete the entry talks and issue invitations to the candidates to join in 2004.

The 10 frontline candidates are Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungry, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Cyprus andMalta. Bulgaria and Romania are expected to join the EU in 2007.

The EU is offering the candidates some 40 billion US dollars inaid, mostly to farmers and poor regions over the first three years of membership. Denmark has already added close to 2 billion euros to a package agreed by the EU leaders in October.

Candidate nations are angry that their farmers won't get aid at the same level as their richer neighbors until 2013. They also want bigger farm production quotas and more regional aid.

However, Germany and some other EU members are grumbling about the "too generous" Danish offer.

Analysts said a final deal is highly possible since neither EU members nor the candidates can afford the risk of failure.

While the current wave of enlargement seems certain to be sealed in Copenhagen, a successful outcome to the Cyprus and Turkey issues is far from guaranteed.

The EU has made clear it is prepared to admit a divided Cyprus if necessary, but the leaders of Turkish and Greek Cypriots are trying hard to sign a framework accord for a political settlement in Copenhagen. Turkey's cooperation is vital for such a deal.

Turkey's new government has signaled greater flexibility on Cyprus in hope of winning a date in Copenhagen to start its own EUentry talks. In the past few weeks, Turkey has tried hard to win support from any EU countries, even from EU's biggest ally, the United States.

On Tuesday, the EU foreign ministers intended to give Turkey a conditional date for entry talks. The EU said it could open talks with Turkey in July 2005 if it passes a human rights review in late 2004 - terms branded unacceptable by Ankara.

The summit, the last one to be hosted by Denmark in its six-month rotating EU presidency, will also discuss issues like Iraq, Middle East and the Balkans.

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