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EU'S 'BIG BANG" WOULD NEVER BE REPEATED,SAYS ROMANO
PRODI, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT
[Prodi Continues His Ukraine Bashing Remarks and Policy Position] |
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By George Parker in Dublin, Financial Times, London , UK, May 03, 2004
DUBLIN - The European Union's "big bang" expansion from 15 to 25 members,
celebrated over a weekend of emotion and ceremony, will never be repeated,
Romano Prodi, European Commission president, said yesterday.
Mr Prodi said the EU would soon be full and that there was no prospect of
countries such as the former Soviet republics of Ukraine or Belarus becoming
members.
Instead he predicted the creation of a "ring of friends" for Europe, a zone
of co-operation stretching from the Baltic through the Middle East to North
Africa.
"There would be strong links not only in the economic field, but in
migration and food security," he told the BBC. "But they would not be part
of the same parliament, and not be members of the same European Commission."
Mr Prodi, who steps down in October, said the EU would probably be complete
once it had taken in the three outstanding applicants - Bulgaria, Romania
and Turkey - and the countries of the western Balkans, including Croatia and
Serbia. That process is expected to take many years.
The accession of the 10 new members, which include eight former Soviet bloc
countries, on May 1 was marked by events across Europe, culminating in an
official flag-raising ceremony in Dublin attended by the 25 leaders of the
enlarged Union.
Bertie Ahern, Irish prime minister and holder of the rotating EU presidency,
said: "We must never forget that from war we have created peace; from hatred
we have created respect."
Gerhard Schroder, German chancellor, attended a ceremony on the border with
Poland and the Czech Republic before heading for Dublin. "Those who lived
through the second world war and its aftermath would not have thought this
possible," he said.
Many citizens of the new member states spent the weekend at street parties,
in a rare spontaneous show of support for a European project often
associated with remote bureaucracy. The accession events were only slightly
marred by a demonstration by about 2,000 anti-globalisation protesters in
Dublin, who were doused by water cannons borrowed from the British
authorities in Northern Ireland.
Once the hangovers have faded, the expanded Europe faces some formidable
challenges in the coming weeks, including finalising a new EU constitution
designed to streamline decision-making and choosing a new European
Commission president.
Mr Ahern began preparing for the decisive June 17-18 EU summit yesterday
when he held talks with Anton Rop, Slovenia's prime minister, in the first
of 24 private meetings with all the heads of government.
Mr Schroder said he "assumed" the constitution would be signed at the
summit, although there will then be a fraught ratification process in each
member state, including a number of referendums.
Member states will also start discussing this summer the size of the next
seven-year EU budget, which is likely to pit paymasters such as Germany,
France and Britain, which want a tight budget, against net recipients
including the new member states..
EDITOR: Romano Prodi, European Commission president, has been on
his highly visible and vocal Ukraine bashing program for a long time now.
The best thing about Mr. Prodi is that he steps down from his EU position
in October, 2004. We hope this will silence Mr. Prodi and his personal,
ill conceived, anti-Ukraine campaign.
FOR PERSONAL AND ACADEMIC USE ONLY
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