Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-06-12-Speech-3-159"
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"en.20020612.5.3-159"2
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".
Mr President, this report represents a politically significant boost by the European Parliament to the enlargement process. It is also a sign of encouragement at this crucial time when the Commission, the Council and the Member States, as well as the candidate countries, are preparing to open negotiations on the chapters which are most complex and which have the greatest budgetary implications. We cannot ignore the fact that the chapters on agriculture and regional policy and financial and budgetary considerations alone account for 80% of the Community budget. This was certainly what led the Commission prudently to propose a system of gradual implementation for the direct aid paid to farmers under the CAP and for the allocation of structural funds to the new Member States. We are in no doubt that it was similar reasons that led some of the current Member States to call for a thorough restructuring of the CAP as a prerequisite for reaching
a common EU starting position for negotiations on the agricultural chapter
If we add to this the – to us obvious – need to continue to uphold the policy of economic and social cohesion between the current Member States, because otherwise enlargement could conceivably exacerbate existing disparities within the Union, it is easy to understand the words spoken on this matter this morning as a warning by the President-in-Office of the Council, Ramón de Miguel. The planning stage is over. Where enlargement is concerned, real political planning has begun.
Mr President, the most significant landmark in Hungary’s current political situation has undoubtedly been the legislative elections held in April. In a coalition with the Liberal Party, the Socialist Party achieved a victory which gave it 198 seats in Parliament, as opposed to the 188 won by the party of the previous government. It seems certain that the change of government will not affect Hungary’s strategic objective of joining the European Union. The winning parties have always maintained this aspiration. Nevertheless, and bearing in mind the differences of opinion between the previous government and the election-winners on a whole range of issues, such as the Status Law, social dialogue and public procurement for example, the possibility of changes in Hungary’s position on the accession process cannot be excluded, although I do not believe that they will jeopardise this process. From the economic point of view, Hungary is maintaining a viable market economy and its economic performance is one of the best in the region. Furthermore, Hungary has to date closed 24 chapters and has made more progress in negotiations than almost any other candidate country. On the chapter dealing with culture and the audiovisual field, I am pleased to see that the government and the opposition have finally reached agreement on the representation of parliamentary parties on the Media Council – covering radio and television – which means that we will soon be able to close this chapter.
Let us hope – and we do hope – that the shortcomings seen in the field of public procurement will also be remedied and that the rules of competition will, at last, be fully complied with in the areas covered by this major market. The announcement that anonymous deposits, even already existing deposits, are to be abolished, starting in the next few days, is also very much to be welcomed. The adoption of such a measure demonstrates the consistency of the Hungarian authorities’ initiatives to combat corruption and money-laundering. It is this progress, of which I have given only a brief overview, and the trend that it reveals, which give us continuing grounds for optimism that the negotiations for Hungary’s accession to the European Union will be concluded within the deadline that has been set and, consequently, that we will see its 22 Members in this House for the next legislature in 2004."@en1
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