Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-06-Speech-3-040"

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"en.19991006.1.3-040"2
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"Mr President, when Romano Prodi was presenting his programme, he told the European Parliament that we had 20 or even 30 years of enlargement in the Union ahead of us, during which time the number of Members would rise to 25 – perhaps more than that. His time perspective was a realistic one, and remains so. I fear that many countries, which are much closer to possible accession than Turkey, were given the impression years ago, from many quarters – and I do not mean Parliament, but government representatives – that full membership for the Baltic Countries, Poland and Hungary, for example, would be possible by the year 2002 or 2003. The internal development of these States, and, above all, their ability to fulfil the obligations of the Union in order to acquire Union rights, may not be sufficient for such speedy accession as they themselves would hope. We must make one thing clear for ourselves, however. In my opinion, it is not honest to say that developments in Turkey remain inadequate, when we mean that Turkey cannot be a Member at all. No, in my opinion, we have to say, as Mr Sasi, representing the Council here, said, that we must see a lot more development in Turkey, but that we wish to show goodwill. In other words, we shall not exclude Turkey. Furthermore, the Union must take stock of the burden of enlargement, when, in a few years’ time, Poland, with its population of almost 40 million, one quarter of which still derives its livelihood from agriculture, becomes a Member. And the Union’s potential is not boundless, either, which is why it is easy to agree with the words of Mr Poettering: yes to a reformed Turkey in the future, but that time is not now."@en1

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