Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 90: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the level of enlargement allowed under the institutional arrangements under which the European Union operates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13015/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union provides that any European state that respects the principles on which the EU is founded may apply to become a member. The treaty sets no numerical limit to the membership of the Union. It is true, however, that the existing institutional arrangements were created for a considerably smaller Union than the one that exists today.

The Government's view is that the provisions of the EU constitution would serve to create a more efficient and effective Union. In particular, ratification and implementation of the EU constitution would help consolidate the success of the most recent enlargement and strengthen the institutional capacity of the Union. This will be a critical factor in determining the Union's ability to take in new members in the future. In its 2005 enlargement strategy paper, the Commission noted that a well-functioning Union is in the interests of both present and future members.

In December last, EU Foreign Ministers agreed that careful attention needs to be paid to the important issue of the Union's absorption capacity in the context of any further enlargement.