Strasbourg, 07/07/2006 (Agence Europe) - In Strasbourg this week, the nine MEPs of the Bavarian CSU (all part of the EPP-ED group) presented a paper drafted by Bernd Posselt arguing for a halt to enlargement after the accession of Croatia in 2009. After the entry of Croatia, and before considering any further enlargement the EU should begin a “consolidation phase” in order to resolve the “constitutional crisis, the financial crisis and the crisis in confidence”. The members of the CSU say the EU should ask three questions before granting a country candidate status in the future: Is it really a European country? Does it meet the accession criteria? Is the EU able to absorb this country? “If one of these conditions is not met, the EU should not grant candidate status,” says the paper, which concludes that, with the application of this “test”, Turkey should never have become a candidate country. The Western Balkan countries, on the other hand, “are very European in nature” and their future accession to the EU will be “logical”, but only following the consolidation phase and as soon as they meet all the accession criteria. Moldova should also have a European perspective, while the possibility of accession for Ukraine, “clearly a European country, is not on the agenda”. Countries like Russia and the countries of the Caucasus have no European perspective, but should enjoy a “privileged partnership” with the EU.