The European Union (EU) summit meeting ended in Helsinky Saturday with an overall blueprint on a widened and deepened Europe for future in the 21st century.

All state and government leaders from the European Union (EU) members closed their two-day summit with a 15-page document which include final conclusions about the 15-nation bloc's preparing for enlargement, common security and defense policy, economic development targets, citizen-related security, external relations, and the Northern Ireland issue.

The EU leaders confirmed the importance of the enlargement process launched in December 1997 for the stability and prosperity for the entire European continent. An efficient and credible enlargement process must sustained, they said.

The leaders also reaffirm "the inclusive nature" of the EU's accession process, which now comprises 13 candidate nations "within a single framework" on an equal footing.

"Turkey is a candidate State destined to join the Union on the basis of the same criteria as applied to the other candidate states," the EU leader said in a conclusion. "Turkey, like other

candidate states, will benefit from a preaccession strategy to stimulate and support its reforms," they added.

Allowing Turkey to be of EU candidate status is the only decision made by the EU leaders at the summit since all other issues had been reviewed or cleared at EU Council of ministers' meetings for the leaders' approval.

The enlargement process will promote a "broader Europe", but the EU has to carry out institutional reforms before embracing more members in the future. Therefore, the EU leaders set an agenda during the summit about the Intergovernmental Conference on institutional reform. They vowed to have "effective institutions" with transparency, principles of subsidiary and better

lawmaking, as well as enhanced fight against fraud.

In order to deepen the European integration, the EU leaders gave a green light for common European security and defense policy, showing the EU is beginning its first step to realize its

long-cherished political goal.

The EU stressed its determination to develop "an autonomous capacity to take decisions and, where NATO as a whole is not engaged, to launch and conduct EU-led military operations in

response to international crises".

"This process will avoid unnecessary duplication and does not imply the creation of a European army," the EU leaders said in final documents of the summit.

The European Union wants to develop its military and non-military crisis management capability as part of its "strengthened common European policy on security and defense", but still fear to speak clearly its mind about the eventual aim of setting up European defense capabilities because of sensitive transatlantic relationship.

The EU leaders cautiously said that cooperating "voluntarily in EU-led operations", EU members by 2003 must be able to deploy within 60 days and "sustain for at least one year military forces

of up to 50,000-60,000 persons" capable of carrying out peacekeeping or humanitarian aid missions in the future.

The first step is a substantial one, but the force is neither a European army nor the permanent EU troops, it is just a symbol for Europeans to do their businesses by themselves with their own will, observers believe.

At the same time, the EU leaders show their resolve to develop a competitive, job-generating, and sustainable economy in Europe. They are optimistic about the EU's "sound fundamentals" in

investment, unemployment and public finances. While they also set strategic targets on other internal policies with a direct impact on citizens and external relations.

The European Commission President Romano Prodi said the summit meeting has opened a new chapter for EU enlargement and it has also unveiled a new era for the bloc to deepen its integration.

However, the summit has raised certain questions such as how does the European Union define its boundary in the future and what will be the utmost goal for European integration?

The summit's future blueprint delivered a message that a wider Europe will have more difficulties to meet the challenges for pushing ahead with a more united process.