Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 93: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on future European enlargement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13690/05]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 143: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which he has directly or through the EU been in contact with future candidates for membership of the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13872/05]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 144: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the sequence of the likely discussions in regard to further enlargement of the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13873/05]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 145: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress and discussions that have taken place in regard to further enlargement of the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13874/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 93, 143, 144 and 145 together.

The Government has participated actively and positively in negotiations on the enlargement process and will continue to do so. Ireland will maintain its constructive support of the enlargement process on the basis that the European Union should continue to be open to all European states which respect its fundamental values. Ireland attaches great importance to remaining in close contact and to developing deeper relations with all of its future partners. It has, for example, developed assistance and training programmes for its future partners as they prepare for and move towards accession.

With regard to Bulgaria and Romania, the European Council noted the formal closure of accession negotiations at the European Council on 16-17 December 2004. Both countries, together with all the member states, signed the Treaty of Accession to the European Union on 25 April on the occasion of the General Affairs and External Relations Council. They are now entitled to participate as active observers at most EU meetings. The accession of both countries to the European Union will take place in January 2007, if they are ready.

Turkey has been a candidate for membership of the EU since the Helsinki European Council in December 1999, which agreed that it was destined to join the EU on the basis of the same criteria applied to the other candidate states. The European Council in Brussels on 16-17 December 2004 decided, on the basis of the Commission's report and recommendation, that Turkey sufficiently fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria to enable the opening of accession negotiations. It requested the Commission to begin work on a proposal for a negotiating framework and to present it to the Council, with a view to the opening of accession negotiations on 3 October 2005.

The clear objective of the negotiations will be Turkey's accession to the EU, provided it meets the requirements for membership. The pace of the negotiations will depend in large part on progress in the implementation of Turkey's wide ranging reform programme. Given the substantial financial consequences of Turkish accession, the European Council agreed that it will not be possible to conclude negotiations until after the establishment of the financial framework for the period from 2014.

The December European Council also set out the main elements for future negotiating frameworks with individual candidate states, building on the experience of the current enlargement process and taking account of developments within the EU. Turkey's accession negotiations will take place in the context of an Intergovernmental Conference with the participation of all member states, in which decisions will require unanimity. The European Council agreed that the shared objective of the negotiations will be accession but noted that the process will, inevitably, be an open ended one, the outcome of which cannot be guaranteed in advance. The European Union has offered the prospect of eventual membership to the countries of the western Balkans, on the basis of the implementation of a detailed reform process. Croatia applied for membership of the European Union in 2003 and the Commission presented its formal opinion on the application in April 2004. The June 2004 European Council agreed that Croatia fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria and the specific conditions established for the countries of the western Balkans. It decided that Croatia is a candidate country for membership and that accession negotiations should open early in 2005. This decision was confirmed by the December 2004 European Council, which decided that negotiations should open on 17 March 2005, provided there was full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

When the General Affairs Council met in Brussels on 16 March, it was clear that it would not be possible to achieve the unanimous decision of member states which is required for the opening of accession negotiations. The Council reaffirmed the commitment of the EU to Croatia's membership and it adopted the necessary negotiating framework. However, in the absence of unanimity on the extent of Croatia's co-operation with the tribunal, the Council had to postpone the meeting of the bilateral Intergovernmental Conference to begin accession negotiations until it establishes that Croatia is co-operating fully with the tribunal.

The tribunal has identified just one remaining case which Croatia needs to resolve — that of the indicted former general, Ante Gotovina, who remains at large, in hiding. The European Council in Brussels on 23 March agreed to establish a team to work with the tribunal and with Croatia and to report back to the Council. The team is composed of the current and future Presidencies — Luxembourg, UK and Austria — together with High Representative Javier Solana and the Commission. It held its first meetings with the chief prosecutor of the tribunal and with the Foreign Minister of Croatia in Luxembourg on Tuesday, 26 April 2005.

Ireland remains strongly committed to Croatia's future membership of the European Union. The Government was very pleased that it proved possible to achieve a strong, unanimous decision by the European Council on Croatia's candidate status during Ireland's EU Presidency. There is full agreement on the importance of full co-operation with the tribunal by all the countries of the western Balkans and that it is an essential requirement for the development of closer relations with the EU. Over the past 18 months, Croatia has made very significant progress in its co-operation with the tribunal and I hope that the last remaining issue can be resolved as quickly as possible.

We welcomed the agreement reached at the March European Council to establish the team to work with the tribunal and with Croatia. The future work of the team will clearly depend on developments in relations between the tribunal and Croatia. However, I believe it is essential that the Council retains the initiative on this sensitive issue and remains ready to take a positive decision on the opening of accession negotiations with Croatia, at the earliest opportunity.

On 22 March 2004, the Taoiseach, in his capacity as President of the European Council, accepted the application for membership of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia at a ceremony in Dublin. The General Affairs and External Relations Council in May requested the Commission to prepare its opinion on the application. I expect that the Commission will present its opinion for consideration by the Council later this year.

As it expands, the EU has sought to strengthen its relations with those neighbouring countries that do not currently have the prospect of EU membership through the European neighbourhood policy. The policy offers these countries the prospect of an increasingly close relationship with the EU, involving a significant degree of economic integration and a deepening of political co-operation in return for concrete progress in the implementation of political, economic and institutional reforms reflecting shared values.

In this way, it is expected that the European Union and its neighbours, regardless of whether they are pre-accession countries, will enjoy strengthened relations based on commitments to common values including democracy, respect for human rights and the principles of market economy and sustainable development, as well as poverty reduction.