Tag: trade negotiations

Hungarian Minister of European Affairs Endre Juhasz has requested Hungary's full involvement in the EU's accession negotiations with Romania, causing concern among Romanian officials.

The EU-Romania Joint Parliamentary Committee has expressed its support for the completion of negotiations by 31 October 2004 so that Romania can join the Union in 2007.

Romania concluded negotiations on the free movement of capital at the accession conference in Brussels on 7 April, bringing the number of closed negotiation chapters to 17.

The foreign ministers from the 15 EU Member States and 10 accession candidates are meeting on Brussels on 18 November to discuss the possibility of increasing the funds for enlargement and postponing the accession date to 1 May 2004.

Romania concluded EU accession talks on telecommunications and customs union on 8 November, while Hungary clashed with the EU in membership negotiations over state aid to foreign companies.

Competition policy and financial chapters remain the main unresolved issues after the last round of EU enlargement negotiations, held in Brussels on 1 October.

In Austria, two FPÖ ministers resigned on 8 September as a result of Jörg Haider's revolt over the government's tax policies. Their resignation could lead to early elections and a more aggressive Austrian position on EU enlargement.

Four candidate countries have provisionally closed negotiations on regional policies at the first negotiation round under the Danish EU Presidency.

Four candidate countries are expected to provisionally close negotiations on regional policies at the first negotiation round under the Danish EU Presidency.

The Romanian General Directorate for Customs took drastic measures against corrupt customs officers in order to increase public confidence in this sector and meet EU criteria concerning the customs union.

Following the resignation of the Croatian Prime Minister, Ivica Racan, on 5 July the President, Mr Stipe Mesic, has started consultations to appoint a new Prime Minister, likely again Mr Racan.

At a meeting in Hungary, the Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have declared their intention to put pressure on the EU to give them the same chances as the Member States.

The Spanish Presidency fulfilled the enlargement road map by opening negotiations on agriculture on 28 June.

Enlargement negotiators from the EU Member States and the candidate countries, meeting in Brussels on 28 June, will deal with agricultural issues.

The Turkish President, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, has called on the EU set a date to start negotiating Turkey's accession in December.

The German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, has warned at a meeting with his Polish counterpart, Leszek Miller, that extending the full EU subsidies to the candidate countries would be impossible to finance.

The 15 EU Foreign Ministers will try to reach an agreement on farm subsidies for the candidate countries and on fight against illegal immigration at their last meeting before the Seville Summit.

Members of the European Parliament, as well as officials of the EU Council and the Commission have warned of the danger of delaying the enlargement process. In a joint debate on enlargement in Strasbourg on 13 June, Enlargement Commissioner, Günter Verheugen, underlined that the cost of enlargement should now be discussed openly, because its considerable political and economic advantages will not come for free.

Cyprus and Lithuania took the lead in enlargement talks at negotiating sessions on 10 and 11 June in Luxembourg.