Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia - and now Turkey. Listed alphabetically, these are the 13 states invited to join the 15member European Union by the European Council at Helsinki this weekend.
They are put on the same starting line in accession negotiations and are likely to become full members in successive stages over the next 10-15 years. As they do, the nature of the community Ireland joined in 1973 will change profoundly, opening up new challenges for its capacity to adapt and many new opportunities for political and economic development.
The Helsinki summit had an ambitious agenda to initiate this process of adaptation and all told succeeded admirably in the task. Undoubtedly its most dramatic achievement was to add Turkey to the list of candidate countries for EU membership, extending the geographical and cultural boundary of Europe in what was aptly described by the European Commission President, Mr Romano Prodi, as opening a new chapter in the continent's history.
This welcome decision demonstrates that the EU is emerging as a real force in world politics, in addition to its important role in regional integration. Turkey has much to contribute to geopolitical stability in south-eastern Europe and as a bridge to Asia and the Middle East. Defining it as a future member of the European family rather than a friendly neighbour will reinforce its human rights reform programme and encourage the peaceful resolution of disputes with Greece and Cyprus.
The enlargement decision was more foreseeable for the other 12 states and has been delivered according to plan. They had hoped for a more specific date by which the first candidates will join, but have to be content with agreement that the EU itself should be ready to receive them by 2002. That is the target date for ratification of the new Inter-Governmental Conference on institutional reform inaugurated by this summit.
A limited agenda will concentrate on Commission representation and the nature and weighting of voting. Unless such reforms are made now it will be impossible to run a larger EU equitably and efficiently. But even if they are agreed over the next year the task of preparing politically for an EU nearly double the present size will require another conference in four or five years to simplify the EU's treaty basis and enhance its democratic legitimacy.
The summit endorsed plans to develop a common European policy on security and defence through the creation of a crisis-management capability. A rapid reaction force of some 50-60,000 troops will be organised, drawing on voluntary commitments by the member-states with a mandate to act on peacekeeping, peace-making and humanitarian tasks. As the summit conclusions point out, this does not imply the creation of a European army and will operate under general United Nations norms of international security. But it signifies a determination not to see a repetition of the Kosovo crisis in which Europe was so dependent on US military leadership and resources. The summit's willingness to go beyond rhetorical posturing on Chechnya by reviewing its aid programmes to Russia is further evidence of that fact.
Ireland's position and interests within this new Europe will change in coming years. It will require firm political leadership and a more focused, strategic and better-resourced participation in this enlarged EU over coming years if the real opportunities to benefit from it are to be fully realised.