Brussels, 01/10/2002 (Agence Europe) - With a few exceptions, the ten candidate countries expected to figure in the first accession wave planned for 2004, all succeeded on Tuesday (during Foreign Affairs Ministerial level negotiations) in concluding the ten so-called "technical chapters. The Danish Presidency had set itself the goal of "clearing the negotiation table" of these dossiers at the end of September of beginning of October and only the complexity of the "competition" chapter - still open with Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Malta is preventing this objective from being reached. The Danish Presidency has already announced that it was "flexible" and could arrange, if necessary, an extraordinary negotiation meeting (at a level of deputy) before the Brussels Summit on 24-25 October, in order to make good this slight delay. Other issues (institutions for the Czech Republic and Hungary and transport for the Czech Republic) will certainly be resolved at the end of the negotiations. Here are the details of the negotiation results obtained on Tuesday (Lithuania did not have a meeting):
1) Malta closed its 25th chapter on the environment. Negotiations focused mainly on the respect for the EU birds directive, given the great popularity of hunting birds in Malta (only for breeding, explained Maltese diplomats). Ultimately, Malta obtained the right (without transitory arrangements - to maintain hunting and snaring two categories of birds - turtledoves and quail during the spring, but undertook not to issue additional hunting licences during a 5-year transition period (which already began on 1 August) so as to be able to assess the development of the population of these birds.
2) No additional chapters closed for Cyprus (28 already closed), but Foreign Minister Iaonnis Kasoulides told the press that the Commission had let him know that its regular report would give the "green light" for the conclusion of accession negotiations by December. He then added that, for him, "there is no difference" between concluding negotiations in December and joining the EU in January 2004. "There is no special language for Cyprus", he insisted. He then considered that November (after the Turkish elections and a proposal by Kofi Annan) would be the best time to reach an agreement over the island, but that the EU had to avoid sending any "ambiguous signal" to Turkey, which could exploit it to block the search for a solution. Cyprus does, however, back any positive message the EU would want to send to Turkey, as "the more Turkey conducts itself like a European Union country, the better it is for us".
3) Poland closed the "regional policy" chapter (it has now completed 27 chapters), and hopes that the competition chapter (the restructuring plan for steel still poses problems) may be closed by the Brussels Summit, at an extraordinary negotiating meeting, State Secretary Danuta Huebner told the press.
Poland's revised position will only adopt the revised position on agriculture when the EU has disclosed its own position, she stressed. In answer to questions (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.4) on budgetary compensation in favour of the new members who would be net contributors, Mr Huebner felt that the debate was going in the "right direction", but there was no doubt that the Polish government - instead of gaining possible compensation - would prefer less budgetary contributions from the new entrants over the first years.
4) Romania opened negotiations on the veterinary and phytosanitary part of the agricultural chapter (the overall number of closures remains unchanged at 13). Hildegard Puwak, Minister for European Integration, explained that her country is calling for a total of around 8 transitional periods in this field, the most important of which aims to allow some slaughterhouses and Romanian dairies to be exempted - during three years after membership - from the Community hygiene rules. The EU could agree to a short transitional period on this sensitive point, but on condition that the products concerned are only intended for the Polish market. Mrs Puwak reiterated that her country is planning to complete negotiations in the second half of 2004 with a view to joining the EU on 1 January 2007.
5) Slovakian Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan took advantage of the meeting (during which Slovakia did not close any further chapters, with the total number of chapters closed remaining 27) to take stock of agricultural negotiations. Slovakia hopes to reach a solution that combines not only direct aid but also quotas and rural development, and Mr Kukan feels that this is possible with flexibility necessary
on the EU side, mainly for production quotas. Negotiations on competition should be settled very rapidly once the last outstanding issues are resolved (State aid granted in the past to Volkswagen and US Steel). Mr Kukan said he was convinced that, after the recent parliamentary elections, the "last obstacle" to his country's accession in 2004 was lifted.
6) On Tuesday, Bulgaria closed its 22nd chapter: financial control. Bulgaria's ambition is to close three additional chapters by the end of the year (energy, transport, justice and home affairs), the Foreign Minister, Solomon Passy, told the press. This should allow negotiations to be completed in 2003 and accession on 1 January 2007. The top priority is to get the Copenhagen summit to grant the status of "successful market economy country", he said.
7) The Czech Republic (which has not closed any more chapters, with the total remaining at 25) essentially reiterated its point of view on the agricultural chapter. The ten-year transitional period for direct aid is unacceptable and production quotas proposed are insufficient (the reference period 1995-1999 is highly disputed), explained the new Foreign Minister, Cyril Svoboda. He also felt that the competition, institutions and transport chapters could be closed before December, and welcomed, moreover, the Frohwein report (ordered by the EP) on the Benes decrees. In his view, it is obvious from the report that the "legal system in the Czech Republic does not require any change" and that the decrees belong "to the past".
8) No additional chapters closed for Hungary, but Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs recalled the principles which, in her view, should be respected in future negotiations on the dossiers with financial implication: - no discrimination between former and new members; - transitional periods, where necessary, not exceeding the year 2006; - equal conditions and treatment for Hungarian farmers; - a clear financial situation that should be better in 2004-2006 than it was in 2003.
9) Slovenia (which has already closed the most chapters: 28) has also repeated that the EU's agricultural offer is unsatisfactory and that the amounts earmarked for Slovenia for the period 2004-2006 will be insufficient for implementing the most important Community policies; CAP, structural policies and cohesion policy, said Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel.
10) Latvia (no closure: total 27 chapters closed) essentially reiterated its opposition regarding the EU's offer on agricultural quotas, quotas that the Baltic country considers largely insufficient.
11) Idem for Estonia (28 chapters already closed), which also insisted on the inadequacy of the agricultural quotas offered by the EU.