Stockholm, 09/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - Enlargement is the "first and main priority" of the Swedish Presidency, reiterated Anna Lindh, the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Monday evening in Stockholm before a group of European journalists posted in Brussels. The six countries of the "Luxembourg group" (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia and Cyprus), which have already started the accession negotiations in March 1998, will have, under the Swedish Presidency, the possibility of entering into "truly substantial" negotiations on issues that are among the most difficult, such as the free movement of people, recalled the President of the General Affairs Council. Furthermore, the Presidency has the intention of accelerating the negotiations so as to tackle, if the state of readiness of the various candidates allows for it, more chapters than foreseen in the European Commission "roadmap" for the first quarter 2001. However all of the financial issues will only be broached at the end of the negotiations, underlined Mrs Lindh. As for the countries of the "Helsinki group" (the six candidate that have started their negotiations only at the start of 2000: Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Malta), they will have the possibility, "if they make enough progress in their preparation", to open by the end of June the negotiations on the Chapter not yet tackled, said Mrs Lindh.
During the negotiations, the Swedish Presidency will strongly insist on the respect for the principal of "differentiation" according to which each candidate country will be treated individually, on the basis of its own merits. "Each candidate will be able to negotiate in relation to its state of readiness. Those that will be ready first will be the first the enter the Union", underlined Mrs Lindh, who reasserted that no candidate can hope for a special treatment for political reasons - be it Poland or the Baltic countries. In this context, the Council President recognised that enlargement will not be able to be done "one step at a time", but she vigorously opposed the idea of an accession in mass ("the Big Bang"), with the collective entry of ten or even twelve candidates at the same time. Such a scenario would be "dangerous" and will end up delaying the enlargement process as a whole, felt Mrs Lindh. Furthermore, she reiterated the EU's official position, the Helsinki ruling in December 1999 and recalled since then with every opportunity, according to which the EU would be ready on 1 January 2003 to welcome new members. "Those that will be ready in 2003 should be able to join us", she said, while noting that it is presently impossible to say which will be these countries, "as these would be a political assessment", without knowledge of the accession negotiation results with each of the candidates. However, the latter will have to be judged on the basis of "objective criteria, and not on political considerations or decisions", insisted Mrs Lindh.
As for the question of knowing when the EU will be able to set a target date for the first enlargement, the Prime Minister, Goran Persson, and Anna Lindh felt that it is still premature, at this stage of the negotiations, to define such a date. Though, they added, if there is substantial progress in the negotiations over the next six months, the Council in Gothenburg on 15 and 16 June could set such a date. "Though there is no guarantee (…) I would not consider this as an objective" of the Swedish Presidency, asserted Mr Persson. "What counts, is that we are truly very close to the final stage of the negotiations before setting such a date", said, in her opinion, Mrs Lindh. It is important that the "target date" to be one day announced by the EU is a realistic date, as if it is too ambitious, it risks being counterproductive, as it causes disappointment.
With regards to EU relations with Russia, Mrs Lindh indicated that the Swedish Presidency intends to follow over the next six months a two pronged approach: on the one hand by continuing a "constructive" policy aiming to extend cooperation with Russia in a wide range of areas, such as the environment, nuclear safety, organised crime, the future of Kaliningrad, etc. (notably in the framework of the project implemented within the "Northern Dimension" of the EU; on the other hand, by maintaining, "there where it is necessary", an open and honest, and even critical attitude, for example with regards to the situation in Chechnya or the freedom of the press in Russia. The Swedish Presidency intends to present to the General Affairs Council on 21 January a "very ambitious" working programme for the implementation of the EU's common strategy towards Russia, announced Mrs Lindh.