Brussels, 07/06/2000 (Agence Europe) - As we mentioned, the Chairman of the Preparatory Group of the IGC on Institutional Reform, Francisco Seixas da Costa briefed several representatives of the countries candidates for accession in Brussels on Monday on the state of negotiations. The candidates were represented either by their chief negotiators, of their Deputy Foreign Ministers. The aim of the meeting was above all to provide candidate countries with an indication of the main guidelines of the report the Portuguese Presidency is to submit to the Feira Summit, as well as hearing their reactions, Mr. Seixas da Costa told the press after the meeting.
As for the positions of the candidates on the institutional reform, they have not changed much in relation to the indications all the candidates forwarded in the form of letters, earlier in the year, to the President of the Council, Jaime. Thus: - all candidates stress the need to have the right to appoint a member of the European Commission; - certain differences exist among the candidates on the future weighting of votes in the Council. "We note that, among the candidates, the same divisions as among the Member States.", said Seixas da Costa, noting that the large countries were plugging to secure better representation, in relation to their demographic weight; - a certain consensus is emerging among the candidate countries on the need to extend qualified majority voting. "The candidates consider qualified majority voting as an essential element in ensuring the smooth running of an enlarged Union", said Seixas da Costa; - a certain amount of concerns exist among the candidate countries regarding close cooperation", fearing further divisions among Member States. Mr. Seixas da Costa considered that these fears were not always well founded, as "certain candidate countries are in eve a better position than certain present Member States to take part in future models of closer cooperation"; - the limit of 700 MEPs is accepted by the candidates.
All the candidates, moreover expressed their great hope that the IGC may be finalised by the end of the year, so as to avoid any delay in the enlargement process. Mr. Seixas da Costa said he was "optimistic" on the respect of the timetable, even though "much work remains to be done" under the French Presidency. "Any delay in the conclusion of the IGC would be a "poor signal for candidate countries", he acknowledged.
The positions of the candidate countries will be summarised and presented by Mr. da Costa at the next ministerial meeting of the IGC, in Luxembourg on 13 June.