91997E2573

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2573/97 by Bill Miller (PSE) to the Commission (15 July 1997)

Subject: Enlargement of the Union

Does the Commission agree that the lack of institutional reform achieved in the Amsterdam Treaty will delay the enlargement of the Union?

Answer given by Mr Santer on behalf of the Commission (10 September 1997)

The conclusion of the intergovernmental conference in June, which resulted in the Amsterdam Treaty, opened the way for the launching of the enlargement process (conclusions of the presidency of the Amsterdam European Council).

In accordance with the protocol on the institutions attached to the treaty, before any enlargement the re-weighting of votes must accompany the reduction of the number of commissioners to one for each Member State. Further substantial reform of the institutions must precede an enlargement comprising more than five new Member States through triggering a new intergovernmental conference.

The Commission proposed in its 'Agenda 2000' to open enlargement negotiations with six candidate Member States and to convene, as soon as possible after the year 2000, a new intergovernmental conference to carry out the institutional reforms which are needed before actual enlargement.

It follows from the above that the task of accomplishing the necessary institutional reforms complicates the enlargement process, but does not necessarily delay it.