Austin Deasy
Ceist:18 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if Ireland fully supports Hungary's application for membership of the European Union. [5759/00]
Written Answers. - EU Enlargement.
Ceist:
56 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will give details on progress on EU enlargement. [8303/00]
Austin Deasy
Ceist:148 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if Ireland supports the application of Hungary to become a full member of the EU; and, if so, the reservations, if any, the Government has expressed in this regard. [6042/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 18, 56, and 148 together.
As Deputies will be aware, the current accession process was launched by the 15 EU member states, the ten central and eastern European states and Cyprus on 30 March 1998. The following day, actual negotiations were inaugurated with the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Cyprus. These countries are often referred to as the "ins". Negotiations have continued with these countries since then on a policy chapter basis.
At the same time, a preparatory process for negotiations continued with the other original applicants, the so-called "pre-ins"– Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovakia. Malta joined this group in 1999.
Based on recommendations from the Com mission, the Helsinki European Council on 10 December 1999 decided that the "pre-ins", including Malta, had reached such a level of preparation that accession negotiations could be opened in 2000. These negotiations began formally in Brussels on 15 February 2000. Actual substantive negotiations will start this month. It was also decided that the accession negotiation process for all 12 accession countries should be on an equal footing and that each should proceed on the basis of its own merits and level of preparedness. This will ensure that the new member states are capable of functioning effectively in the highly competitive European market.
The Helsinki European Council affirmed that the European Union should be in a position to "welcome new member states from the end of 2002, as soon as they have demonstrated their ability to assume the obligations of membership" and once the negotiating process has been successfully completed.
The Helsinki European Council also granted candidate status and an intensified pre-negotiation relationship with the EU to Turkey. Turkey will now benefit from a pre-accession strategy to stimulate and support its reforms. Significantly, this will entail a political dialogue with a particular emphasis on human rights. Actual accession negotiations cannot begin with Turkey until that country fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria. These rigorous criteria of democracy, human rights, protection of minorities, and the rule of law, are the same for Turkey as for all other applicant countries.
Ireland is a strong supporter of the current enlargement process for strategic reasons of peace and for economic reasons. We look forward to welcoming the new member states, including the Republic of Hungary, when they have satisfactorily completed their negotiations and have demonstrated their ability to assume the obligations of membership.