The
15-nation European Union is expected to add ten
new members from 2004 to 2006, Martin Bartenstein,
the Austrian Minister of Economic Affairs, said
on Thursday. The final issues on the planned
expansion, he added, should be resolved this year.
But understanding
the issues, or at least "their mechanics," according
to Marek Belka, the Polish Minister of Finance,
is not as important in generating support for
joining or expanding the EU as is the backing
of governments
themselves. He cited Poland as an example..
It
is considered a virtual certainty that Poland, along
with Hungary and the Czech Republic, will join the
EU. Not long ago, though, opinion surveys showed a
declining level of support for Polish participation
in the EU among Poles. But now, Belka said, the downward
trend has been reversed; governmental enthusiasm was
responsible.
"When the government is in doubt, or
projects a lack of clarity to the people" public
policy becomes clouded, Belka said, especially
when it involves complex issues such as EU
standards. "What the people really need," he
declared, "is clear guidance from their
leaders."
Belka and Bartenstein spoke at a press conference
on EU enlargement, along with Ivan Miklos,
the Slovak Republic's Deputy Prime Minister
for Economic Affairs, Gyorgy Matolcsy, the
Hungarian Minister of Economic Affairs, and
Danuta Huebner, the Secretary of State for
European Integration at the Polish Foreign
Affairs Ministry.
None of the
speakers, however, offered a roll call of
the countries most likely to join the
EU next. But Bartenstein said that "one
or two" Balkan nations should soon be
ready to meet EU standards; he also said that
no real European integration could take place
without Russia.
Meanwhile, many observers believe that after
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic enroll
in the EU, it will be Turkey's turn. Germany,
though, opposes Turkish admission, insisting
it is not a true democracy and has a poor record
on human rights. Greece, the poorest member
of the EU, but a.lso a long-time enemy of Turkey,
also opposes admission.
The other countries widely thought of as rounding
out the top-ten list of EU candidates are Slovakia,
Rumania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
Bartenstein
said support for EU expansion--as much a "political project to increase
stability" as an economic undertaking--is
rising. "We Europeans think regionalism
is as important as multilateralism," he
declared. In Austria, he also said, some 60
percent now favor expansion, while only 30
percent oppose it. He also cited a recent study
that found that candidate countries would experience
a 10 to 16 percent increase in their growth
rate if they became EU members.
The United States has been pressuring the
EU to speed up the admissions process, believing
that this will further consolidate Europe as
a democratic bloc.
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