The enlargement of the European Union into eastern Europe and the Mediterranean is "within our grasp," the President of the European Commission, Mr Romano Prodi, said yesterday.
"We are on a steady course," Mr Prodi said as the European Commission's annual progress reports on enlargement were issued at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
"Enlargement, the historical duty of the union and political priority of my commission, is within our grasp," he said.
Enlargement can be achieved, he continued, within the framework of existing policies as well as the EU spending guidelines that have been set out by the 15 incumbent EU member-states for the 2000-2006 period.
"We will bring forward ideas and proposals on the future of these policies in due course. The necessary reforms will be carried out," Mr Prodi said.
"But the imperative of enlargement cannot be questioned. The way is open for the peaceful and democratic unification of our continent," he said.
Speaking to the parliament directly, alongside the EU Enlargement Commissioner, Mr Gⁿnter Verheugen, Mr Prodi said enlargement would boost Europe's standing in a world that was "profoundly changed" by the September 11th attacks on the US. "With enlargement, we will be concluding a chapter of Europe's history and laying down the foundations for the future," he said.
Ten eastern European and Mediterranean countries are on track to join the EU by mid-2004, according to the Commission report.
"Among the 12 negotiating countries, 10 have target dates of accession compatible with the Gothenburg timeframe," the Commission said, referring to the Gothenburg meeting in June. At that meeting, EU leaders called for negotiations with as many candidate countries as possible to be wrapped up in 2002, so that they can be full EU members in time for European Parliament elections due in June 2004.
However, the Commission said all candidate states needed to carry out further reforms in order to implement European legislation and to do more in the fight against terrorism and organised crime.
The message was good news for Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus and Malta.
Trailing the 10 leading candidate states are the Balkan nations of Bulgaria and Romania, which are well behind in the number of negotiating "chapters" they have closed with Brussels.
Turkey is an EU candidate too, but it cannot start accession talks before it is seen to be making real progress on democratic reform, human rights and protection for its Kurds and other minority groups.
Poland, the biggest of the negotiating candidate countries, got high marks for its efforts to bring its laws into line with EU standards. But the Commission expressed concern over weak spots in its economy, particularly in the vast agricultural sector, which employs one in five citizens.
Although Cyprus is the most advanced in its negotiations, the Commission regretted the failure of its Greek and Turkish communities to exploit the opportunity of EU membership to resolve the island's 27-year division.
Mr Verheugen warned that EU-Turkish relations would be "seriously strained" if Ankara tried to annex the northern part of Cyprus.
He said, however, there was "nothing new" in the recent threat of annexation made by the Turkish Prime Minister, Mr Bulent Ecevit.
Mr Verheugen also criticised Turkey for blocking an agreement in NATO that would give the EU's proposed rapid reaction force access to NATO resources.
"I don't think that's the kind of behaviour that we should expect from a candidate country," he said.