Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-03-Speech-2-191"
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"en.20001003.5.2-191"2
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"Mr President, the challenge facing the European Union in the 1980s was to complete the Single Market. The challenge in 1990 was to achieve a single currency. The challenge in the first year of this millennium is to enlarge the European Union in a way that enhances the peace and stability and prosperity of the continent and does not undermine that stability.
To that end enlargement now has to be the absolute priority. We should not miss the window of opportunity that Commissioner Verheugen has referred to. That does not mean that we should proceed blindly. No country has an absolutely guaranteed right to join. They have to be ready. That is why many of us were concerned about the criticisms made by the Commission of the efforts made by the Czech Republic in their last report, which indicated a certain slackening of effort. We only hope that the tremendous efforts made by the government of late will be reflected in the next Commission report. At the same time we should recognise the efforts made by countries like Lithuania to, as it were, make up for lost time. That was reflected in the last Commission report and hopefully will also be this time.
We must make sure that the countries are ready to join and in particular that they have the administrative capacity to deal with the
. That is why some of us were concerned that the Czech Republic has delayed implementation of its civil service law and has slowed down its judicial reform whilst, on the other hand, Lithuania has made tremendous strides in that area, recognising the importance of administrative capacity.
Member States could do more in their twinning arrangements to assist the applicant countries in developing their administrative capacity.
Finally, it is crucial that we sell the applicant countries to the electorate of the European Union. Too many people have a view of the applicant countries that is 10 years out of date. They are now much more modern economies, in many ways ready to take up the challenge of European Union membership, and we have to sell that idea to our citizens if they are to support enlargement in the future."@en1
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