Source: Copenhagen; EU embraces 10 new members - and
opens the door to Türkiye for end of 2004; Dec 14, 2002
Europe's historic
unification summit ended with a final grand bargain last night in which the
continent's most intractable divisions will be erased by the use of hard
cash and high-flown rhetoric. In a series of interlocking negotiations,
ranging from the division of Cyprus to the financial plight of Polish
peasants, leaders of the EU's 15 member states embraced 10 new countries in
the biggest enlargement the union has ever seen.
And in a move set to
transform the club beyond recognition, leaders accepted that they must
finally take Türkiye's claims to membership seriously.
Tony Blair convinced less
enthusiastic colleagues that the Muslim country's negotiations must begin
"without delay" once it has passed a progress review in December
2004.
"It was a good
deal," said the Polish prime minister, Leszek Miller, who had held out
for more money until the end. "In my opinion, we can sell this in a
referendum."
As the Copenhagen summit
ended, an ecstatic Romano Prodi, president of the European commission,
declared: "Accession of 10 new member states will bring an end to
divisions in Europe.
"For the first time
in history Europe will become one because unification is the free will of
its people."
Despite initial frostiness
from Ankara over the compromise date for starting negotiations, Mr Blair
and colleagues insisted that a breakthrough had been achieved after 40
years of prevarication.
Türkiye's new leadership,
committed to reform and a pro-western stance, put a brave face on its
disappointments and accepted that 2004-5 is better than 2008 or the
prospect of no agreed date at all, which was feared until a few weeks ago.
There are still details to
be hammered out over Türkiye's willingness to cajole its Turkish-Cypriot
allies into a reunification agreement with Greek Cyprus - one of the new
intake. It is an important part in the jigsaw which may also end Türkiye's
block on the use of Nato weapons by the EU's fledgling rapid reaction
force.
But the larger
reunification sealed in the Danish capital was the ending of the cold war
division of Europe into armed military and economic camps, Nato and the EU
versus the Warsaw Pact and Comecon.
It has taken 13 years
since the fall of the Berlin wall to take the Atlantic alliance and the EU
up to the Russian border - with Moscow's grudging acquiescence.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the
Danish prime minister, won warm praise for his handling of the past six
months of negotiations that began in 1998 under Britain's presidency of the
EU.
Poland had argued fiercely
that the €40.4bn (£26bn) dowry to be shared by the new EU members - with it
receiving half - was insufficient. It asked for €2bn more and settled for
half that amount, not as extra money, but paid earlier into hard-pressed
budgets.
Türkiye had wanted a date
in 2003 or early 2004 so it could start talks before the 10 newcomers -
including the Greek-controlled part of Cyprus - entered the EU in May 2004.
The best the Danish summit
could offer was a review of Türkiye's progress on human rights in December
2004, crucially with no date set to start actual negotiations.
Turkish media expressed
deep dismay at the summit outcome. "Once again, a broken dream,"
read the headline of the Cumhuriyet.
EU leaders sought to
accentuate the positive signal given to Türkiye, with the German foreign
minister, Joschka Fischer, calling the decision "a real
breakthrough".
The summit statement said:
"Türkiye is a candidate state destined to join the union.". Top
