BELGIUM: EU starts talks on enlargement but some leaders have arrived under the shadow of domestic controversy

European Union leaders sounded a tougher new tone towards aspiring new members on Thursday (December 14) as they gathered for a summit aimed at reassuring sceptical voters while keeping the door ajar for a queue of entry hopefuls. But some of the leaders were walking into Brussels facing controversy at home. Britain's Tony Blair was quizzed as a witness on Thursday by police probing claims that political parties awarded state honours in return for loans, and analysts said it was a fresh embarrassment for a damaged prime minister. Blair was not cautioned by police about his rights before the interview, suggesting officers do not believe he has charges to answer Police launched an inquiry in March into allegations by an opposition party that Blair's Labour Party and other political parties had nominated people for seats in parliament's upper house, the House of Lords, in exchange for party funding. Blair's police encounter further tarnishes the reputation of a leader whose popularity ratings have plummeted over his decision to back the U.S.-led Iraq war. But the fact he was only questioned as a witness softens the blow, suggesting he will not be charged, analysts said. In Belgium itself, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was asked to respond to a fake news bulletin that Belgium was to split and which sparked outrage in both halves of the country. Back to the summit business EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero Waldner said the enlargement debate was very important. The two days of talks come after the 25-member bloc agreed on Monday to partially suspend Turkey's accession talks over its failure to normalise trade with Cyprus, papering over internal rifts over how to treat the mainly Muslim country. Leaders will reaffirm backing for the eventual membership of Turkey, and the western Balkan states -- Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. "Well I think the enlargement debate will certainly be an important one but it will be a very general debate, a very principled one because as you know the Turkey question, gladly enough has been solved, I think to the satisfaction of all the different parties but I think its good to have a principled discussion, You see there is a certain enlargement fatigue so we have to see how we can cope with that," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Fererro Waldner said. Earlier the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters: "On enlargement we really need a strong consensus behind enlargement. We need European leaders to agree to the sense of enlargement, why enlargement is important for Europe and how we should do it in a way that reinforces the European capacity to act." But while welcoming Bulgaria and Romania into the bloc from Jan. 1, they will insist that any further enlargement must await reform of the EU's creaking institutions -- a process Germany aims to revive when it succeeds Finland as rotating president next month. German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed the EU had to be tough in ensuring new entrants fully met membership criteria. Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose own country joined the EU in 2004, denied the bloc was erecting new hurdles but told Reuters it would treat candidates more warily. But Swedish Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt insisted the summit would "not close doors to anyone". Qualms over Turkey's EU bid were a factor in last year's "No" votes in France and the Netherlands to a constitution designed to revamp EU structures to welcome in further members after Romania and Bulgaria. Romania celebrated its entry before the summit as President Traian Basescu and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso were joined by flag-waving local children at a Brussels church. The accession of those two states will complete a "big bang" expansion that began in 2004 when the EU admitted 10 mostly ex-communist central and eastern European countries that has since prompted a public backlash of "enlargement fatigue". In a subtle linguistic shift, EU states will accept a duty to improve capacity to "integrate" new members and eschew the loaded term "absorption capacity", which states such as France and Austria had cited to try to erect roadblocks to Turkey. Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel told reporters at a pre-summit meeting of conservative leaders just outside Brussels the partial freeze of talks with Ankara was a "clear warning" that it had to meet its obligations. Turkey's backers, including Britain and Sweden, see the country as a vital link with the Muslim world and are playing down the impact on accession talks seen spanning over a decade. Prospects for other hopefuls are by no means certain either. EU treaties must still be amended to allow any new members to join, but scepticism of institutional reform in a number of member countries means that Croatia, at the front of the queue, will likely have to wait until at least 2010 for entry. Serbia's bid, stalled by its failure to help bring war crimes suspects to trial, is expected to come up at the summit, with Italy urging a quick resumption of its EU talks -- something Britain, France and others are seen blocking. Leaders will also study how to help states such as Spain, Italy and Malta cope with sudden influxes of migrants and are due to agree to pool their border guards to prevent illegal migrants reaching the bloc by sea, according to a draft accord.

ITN Source | December 15, 2006

Tags:. .finland. .serbias. .reinforces. .warily. .satisfaction