Т е к с т 5. Memorandum by the European Union at the 54th United Nations General Assembly

(5.000)

The memorandum is circulated concurrently with the speech delivered at the

General Assembly of the United Nations on September 21st, 1999

by H.E. Ms Tarja HALONEN, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, on behalf of the

European Union. It forms an integral part of the speech.

III. Europe

1. Eu enlargement

The current enlargement process, which was launched in March 1998, on the basis of the Luxembourg European Council of December 1997, represents a historic opportunity for the European Union with the prospect of almost doubling EU membership over the coming years and increasing the population of the Union from around 380 million to nearly 500 million persons. This will not only require adaptations of the institutions of the Union, but also pose considerable challenges for the policies and financing of the Union.

The overall agreement reached in March 1999 in Berlin on the "Agenda 2000" reform package now means that the financial framework of the Union has been secured for the next seven years. Pre-accession aid will be almost doubled from 2000 and will include the introduction of two pre-accession instruments for agricultural and structural measures. Also, substantial funds have been set aside for new Member States within an enlarged Union from 2002 onwards. Furthermore, the decision of the Cologne European Council in June 1999 to convene a new Intergovernmental Conference on institutional reform at the beginning of next year will ensure that the Union's institutions continue to work efficiently after enlargement.

Work on enlargement with the ten Central and Eastern European countries and Cyprus is progressing well. The current process comprises both those candidates with whom negotiations have begun (Cyprus, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia) and those with whom the Union has not yet started negotiations (Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria). The inclusive nature of the enlargement process has allowed the Union to strengthen its relationship with each of the candidate countries, while allowing each country to progress at its own speed on the road to accession. The same political and economic criteria apply to all the candidates. The Commission has been invited to consider measures to help crystallise the prospect of accession in its next progress report for all applicant countries.

The success of the process depends on the ability of the candidate countries to align themselves with the legislation of the Union prior to accession. This includes effective implementation and enforcement. The enhanced pre-accession strategy established by the Union has already produced results. The Council's examination of the first regular reports of the Commission in December 1998 on progress made by the candidate countries revealed that substantial progress has indeed been made in their preparations for membership. For the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the enhanced pre-accession strategy centres on Accession Partnerships and increased pre-accession aid. The individual Accession Partnerships, which are designed to channel all forms of assistance within a single framework, have already enabled the candidates concerned to focus on priorities and to align them with available resources.

The short and medium-term priorities contained in the Partnerships are to be revised. As regards substantive negotiations, these were initiated with Cyprus, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia in Autumn 1998. Good progress shas been achieved so far. By the middle of 1999, negotiations had been started on around half of the negotiating chapters that make up the legislation of the Union. The pace of progress in the negotiations naturally depends on the degree of preparedness of each candidate country.

Following the decision of Malta in September 1998 to reactivate its application for EU membership, the Commission submitted to the Council in February 1999 a report updating its 1993 opinion on Malta's membership request. On the basis of this report, the Council decided in March 1999 that the screening of EU legislation with Malta should begin as soon as possible. This exercise is now well underway. The June 1999 Cologne European Council confirmed that the Commission would prepare a progress report on Malta.

The European Strategy prepares Turkey for membership. The Council has received the first regular report on Turkey's progress towards accession. The Council will receive second regular reports on each candidate's progress towards accession. In the case of Turkey, reports will be based on Article 28 of the Association Agreement and the conclusions of the Luxembourg European Council.

In the framework of the overall enlargement process, the European Conference brings together for political consultation the Member States of the Union and the European States aspiring to accede to it and sharing the Union's values and internal and external objectives. Following the first meeting at the level of Heads of State and Government in March 1998, a second meeting at the level of Ministers of Foreign Affairs was held in October 1998. The third meeting was held in Brussels on 19 July 1999 at the level of Foreign Ministers.

Задания

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2. Определите, есть ли в тексте:

• термины,

• клише,

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