Budapest, 24/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - On a trip to Budapest earlier this week, the Commissioner responsible for enlargement, Gunter Verheugen encouraged the Hungarian authorities to pursue ongoing reforms in view of preparing the country for membership of the EU. "Provided Hungary maintains its momentum, that is its efforts to implement the acquis communautaire, it will be amongst the first countries to join the EU", said Mr. Verheugen.
The Commission is currently busy preparing the EU's "common negotiating positions" for the opening of the last negotiating chapters with Hungary and the five other countries of the "first group", ie: free movement of persons, regional policy, justice and home affairs, agriculture, and financial control. Once negotiations on these chapters have been opened, Member States and the Commission will be able to respond more precisely to the requests for exemptions or transitional periods for the applicant countries, chapter by chapter, said Verheugen.
Recently, Hungary's chief negotiator, Endre Juhasz, criticised the EU, saying that Member States had so far refused to reveal their negotiating positions on the more problematic chapters and, because of that, were preventing real negotiations from beginning on the most controversial aspects (see EUROPE of 8 February, p.9).