Brussels, 22/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - We give below an overview of the results of the membership talks that continued on Monday (for the three meetings last Friday, see EUROPE of 20 April, p.8):
- Poland closed the institutions chapter (in total, it has closed 23 out of 31). Jan Truszczynski stressed that the institutional arrangements of the Nice Treaty are perfectly in line with Poland's hopes, especially with regard to the number of seats at the EP and votes in Council. The budget chapter was also discussed on Monday, but Warsaw has not yet decided how to react to the Fifteen's common position. While the EU calls for candidates to pay all of their normal contribution to the Community budget from the very first year, with compensations for those that become net contributors from the outset, Poland - like most other candidates - calls for a transitional period (not yet defined) to allow gradual "phasing in".
- Lithuania closed two chapters (Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) and Institutions), making a total of 26 closed chapters. Petras Austrevicius allowed no doubt to reign about the fact that Lithuania was implementing all its commitments on the JHA chapter concerning the protection of the long external border (which will be that of the EU). Visas will be introduced from 1 January 2003 for the citizens of Belarus and Ukraine, and from 1 July 2003 for the citizens of Kaliningrad. As far as institutions are concerned, Lithuania is satisfied with the Treaty of Nice (12 seats at the European Parliament, 7 votes in Council).
- Latvia closed the telecommunications chapter (24 chapters closed in all). The budget issue was discussed but Andris Kesteris felt more talks are needed. "The fact that the Commission has announced no candidate should, after EU accession, be in a financial situation that is less favourable than now is a good thing", he said. Regarding institutions, Latvia does not have a problem in accepting the Nice provisions, but would like clarification.
- Estonia continued talks on three chapters (regional policy, budget, institutions), but none of them was closed (total: 24). On the budget and institutions, it hopes to make a more detailed examination of the EU's proposals, Alar Streimann told the press. As for regional policy, it considers that the EU's offer does not sufficiently take the country's specific situation into account. Estonia has one of the lowest population densities in Europe.
- Slovenia discussed two chapters (budget, institutions), but neither were closed. The country nonetheless remains at the head of the candidates with 26 chapters closed, behind Cyprus with 27 closures.
At the end of the day, talks continued with the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Malta. We shall come back to this tomorrow.