Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-05-14-Speech-3-135"
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"en.20030514.7.3-135"2
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"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office, Commissioner, the process of enlarging the European Union by 10 new Member States is not yet complete, and yet we are already talking about a still larger Europe in future, a good-neighbourly Europe. We do of course have to consider how the enlarged Union of the future will arrange its relations with neighbouring states. The external borders of the Union will shift to Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus. We need to construct as strong a partnership as possible with Ukraine in particular, and we also need to adopt a positive approach under Article 4 of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. This involves working towards a free trade area, greater use of twinning projects and using the European Conference as a forum for neighbourhood policy.
The borders of the Union will also shift to Croatia, which we hope will participate in the next enlargement round alongside Romania and Bulgaria. It is therefore absolutely right that a debate should be taking place about the outermost geographical borders of the Union, a debate in which the new Member States should be able to participate. There should also be a clear alternative to membership of the European Union, an alternative leaving open the option of a European Economic Area with stronger relations and increased assistance. Although I understand the EU strategy of striking a balance between a neighbourhood policy for continental Europe and a Mediterranean strategy, it seems to me that we should be setting priorities for a future European neighbourhood policy, as otherwise our ability to implement and finance it could be undermined.
It must of course also be our objective for countries that will be joining the European Union in the medium or long term – or never – to be guided by the political criteria of the European Union. Democratisation of society, the rule of law and respect for human rights and minorities need to be implemented by means of practical policies not just because membership of the European Union is on the horizon, but also because they are in the best interests of the peoples concerned."@en1
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