Gay Mitchell
Question:29 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the state of EU enlargement negotiations; and if the five plus one agreement is likely to come under review. [22056/98]
Vol. 496 No. 2
29 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the state of EU enlargement negotiations; and if the five plus one agreement is likely to come under review. [22056/98]
61 Mrs. B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress, if any, to date on EU enlargement negotiations. [22159/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 29 and 61 together.
The accession process was launched by the EU member states, the ten central and eastern European countries, and Cyprus on 30 March. Accession negotiations were inaugurated the following day with Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Cyprus. These candidates, known as the "ins" or the "five plus one" countries, have now submitted their negotiating positions on at least seven chapters of the Union acquis. Formal negotiations on these chapters will be launched at Intergovernmental Accession Conferences in Brussels on Tuesday next, 10 November. Concurrent with this process, the preparation of negotiations with the five other candidate countries known as the “pre-ins”— Slovakia, Lithuania, Romania, Latvia, and Bulgaria — is taking place through intensive screening of their national legislation by the European Commission.