We should not lose sight of the fact that all of the candidate countries have made enormous sacrifices to come this far. Achieving the standards necessary to join the European Union has forced all of them to make difficult choices and take tough decisions. Despite the attempts of a great many people to offer reassurance, there is absolutely no doubt that the result of the first referendum on the Nice treaty was a serious blow to the aspirations and hopes of these states. It threw into doubt the European Union's ability to achieve the timetable to which we had all been working. The result of the second referendum was, therefore, particularly welcome in the ten countries concerned. The decision taken last month is widely appreciated within these states as being of major significance to them. There is a sense of deep gratitude to the Irish people. I come across this gratitude on every occasion I visit a Council or convention meeting and the degree to which the Irish are held in high regard is astonishing. The vote by the people is seen as a generous act of solidarity of a small nation with which they have much in common.