European Commission President Mr Romano Prodi said today he expected quite a few candidate countries to take part in European Parliament elections in 2004 but rejected the 'Big Bang' theory.
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Mr Romano Prodi
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A dozen Central and East European countries have opened membership talks with the EU since 1998, with the front-runners hoping to join the bloc by 2003-2004.
Subscribers to the so-called Big Bang theory say all these candidates - barring Romania and Bulgaria who are deemed unready - should join at the same time to avoid the friction that streaming applicants could cause.
"In a time, a number of countries will come in. I don't think there will be a Big Bang but nor do I think there will be a restricted number of one or two countries," Mr Prodi told a Brussels economic forum.
"There will be a substantial number of countries because I consider that quite a few are now in the best condition to take part in the European Union," he said.