Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 291: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position in the matter of EU enlargement; the progress made in regard to each of the candidate countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13524/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The issue of enlargement was discussed by EU Foreign Ministers at the December 2009 General Affairs Council. The Council's conclusions, subsequently endorsed by the European Council, underlined that enlargement is based on consolidating commitments, fair and rigorous conditionality and the EU's capacity to integrate new members, and that each country is assessed on its own merits.

The General Affairs Council commended Croatia for the considerable efforts it made in 2009 and the good overall progress achieved in meeting benchmarks in the accession process. The Council underlined that building on the progress made; further efforts will be required over the coming year in a number of areas of reform and in relation to cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Overall, the process is well advanced and a group has commenced work on the drafting of the Croatian Accession Treaty.

On Turkey, the Council welcomed progress in some areas of reform and stated that it was encouraged by the Turkish Government's democratic initiative. It noted that further efforts are required in a number of areas including freedom of expression, freedom of the press and trade union rights and invited Turkey to step up the pace of reform. Recalling previous conclusions, the Council noted with deep regret Turkey's continued non-compliance with its obligations under the Ankara Protocol and that it had not made progress towards normalisation of its relations with the Republic of Cyprus. It called for progress without further delay and invited the Commission to monitor and report on these various issues in its next annual report. Subsequent to the December Council, the European Union and Turkey opened the environment chapter of negotiations on 21 December.

The Council welcomed the progress made by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) in a number of important areas and that the country had substantially addressed the key priorities of the accession framework. It stressed that the reform agenda must be continued. The Council noted the Commission's recommendation to open accession negotiations with FYROM and will return to the matter during the current Spanish Presidency.

Iceland applied for membership of the EU in July 2009. On 24 February, the Commission delivered a largely positive opinion (avis) on Iceland's readiness to begin accession negotiations. The avis recommends that a date should be set for commencement of talks. The Council of Ministers should now consider the Commission's recommendation and I look forward to its inclusion on a forthcoming agenda.

In December, the Council welcomed the progress over the past year made by Montenegro and Albania and highlighted areas where further efforts are required. It agreed to consider the opening of formal negotiations with both, when the Commission provides its formal opinions in respect of each application.

Serbia applied for EU membership on 22 December 2009. The next step will be for the Council to consider whether to refer Serbia's application to the Commission for a formal opinion.