Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-05-14-Speech-3-145"
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"en.20030514.7.3-145"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would just like to make three brief comments, and to reiterate that no complete plan is as yet in existence; the situation is rather that a plan is now being developed in conjunction with the Member States and the partner states based on the reflections the Commission has presented to you. This plan will be differentiated and tailored to the needs of each country, so there is no danger, for example, that Libya will be offered freedom of movement. Instead, the instruments available will be examined to see to which countries they are best suited, and how we can take advantage of existing potential for cooperation. Our intention is that at some point next year there will then be an overarching strategy for the future.
Secondly, this plan includes those countries that do not have any prospect of membership. I think I made that clear, so I cannot understand why several Members of this House have suggested that preparations are being made for a covert further round of enlargement. It is precisely because these countries have no prospect of membership that they are included in this programme. All the other countries we have been discussing here do have membership prospects, that is to say, the Balkan states, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. The countries in the European Economic Area and Switzerland in any case have a special treaty relationship with the European Union, which has already been pushed to its limits. The only further step possible for these countries is full membership; there are no other options open to them. It is, though, for these countries themselves to decide if that is what they want.
That brings me to the last point that I would like to clarify. It is a shame that Mr Ferber is no longer here to listen to what I have to say, although I asked him to stay to hear me out. I really must defend the EU Heads of State and Government against the accusation that they dealt with Turkey's application in just three minutes. That was not the case in either Helsinki or Copenhagen. In both cases hours of detailed discussion were devoted to this subject. Perhaps Mr Ferber was referring to the fact that it only took three minutes in Copenhagen to decide which Cyprus protocol should be adopted, Protocol A or Protocol B, which confirmed that the two sides could not agree on a political solution in Copenhagen either. But I would like to spell out that the subject of Turkey is always discussed with the greatest care in the Council and that a very great deal of time has been devoted to it."@en1
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