Vol. 437 No. 7
33 Mr. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has satisfied himself the EU plans for further closer integration are likely to proceed in tandem with enlargement proposals; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Enlargement negotiations are currently under way with Austria, Sweden, Finland and Norway. These negotiations, which are entering their final stage, involve the applicant countries taking on the body of treaty provisions, laws and rules on which the European Union is structured. It is expected that the applicant countries will be in a position to join the European Union by 1 January, 1995.
The focus in European integration at present is on the application of the provisions of the Treaty on European Union which came into effect on 1 November, 1993. The Treaty provides for economic and monetary union, a common foreign and security policy, strengthening the powers of the European Parliament, a range of justice and home affairs matters and other issues including the social charter. These provisions amount to a significant enhancement of the process of European integration.
All the applicant countries in negotiation have indicated that they accept and are willing to implement in full the provisions of the Treaty on European Union from the time of accession. Their membership should therefore lead to a boost to the integrative process, as previous enlargements of the Community have done.
Beyond the current round of enlargement, applications from Turkey, Malta, Cyprus and Switzerland remain under consideration. In addition, the European Council in Copenhagen last June agreed that the associated countries in Central and Eastern Europe that so desire shall become members of the Union once they are able to assume the obligations of membership. The European Council on that occasion also noted that an important consideration would be the capacity of the Union to absorb new members while maintaining the momentum of European integration.
