BRUSSELS: European Union leaders seeking to reassure voters about plans to enlarge the bloc remained far from united on Friday about the future shape of the union, set to grow to 27 members when Bulgaria and Romania join on Jan 1.
On the final day of a summit, divisions remain about further expansion beyond that date and about whether and how to revive a stalled EU constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who takes over the EU presidency from Finland on Jan 1, said the summit had created “a very good climate to solve certain questions”.
But a reference to ending national vetoes on police and judicial cooperation as envisaged by the charter was omitted from the final statement at the insistence of Britain, Poland and the Czech Republic -- all sceptical about the constitution.
That was a sign of the problems Germany will face in trying to revive reform of the bloc’s creaking institutions, which most members see as a precondition for any further enlargement.
Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, the outgoing chairman, said the leaders agreed on the need to reform the EU’s governing treaty and could not simply tear up the constitution text, which 18 countries have ratified, and start from scratch.
Meeting on Thursday, the EU leaders toughened their tone on future enlargement, insisting aspiring members fully adhere to entry criteria and tackle difficult justice reforms and the fight against corruption earlier in the accession process.
“Everyone naturally has to earn his own (membership) perspective,” Merkel said.
They endorsed a decision by foreign ministers this week to suspend a big chunk of Turkey’s entry negotiations to sanction its failure to open its ports to traffic from Cyprus.
While they stopped short of setting new hurdles to future expansion and reaffirmed backing for the eventual EU membership of Turkey and the western Balkan states -- Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia -- the new mood amounted to a slowing of the enlargement process.
“The acceding countries must be ready and able to fully assume the obligations of Union membership and the Union must be able to function effectively and to develop,” the summit statement said.
Despite the summit affirmations, prospects for further enlargement are uncertain given a backlash in western Europe after the 2004 admission of 10 mostly ex-communist central and east European states and disagreement over institutional reform.
French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy hinted on Thursday he could block all negotiations with Turkey if elected next May, and urged conservative EU leaders to start working on an alternative “privileged partnership” with Ankara.
Britain, a strong backer of Turkey which sees it as a strategic link to the Muslim world, insisted there should be no watering down of the EU’s commitment to negotiate membership.—Reuters
