EU summit in Copenhagen in 2002

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2002 EU Summit took place in Copenhagen , Denmark from December 12th to 13th . The Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen chaired the meeting .

Topics and participants

The heads of state and government discussed the admission of ten countries to the European Union. The Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson said that a financial package for enlargement had been finally agreed with the candidate countries. It was announced that on May 1st, 2004 Poland , Hungary , the Czech Republic , Slovakia , Slovenia , Estonia , Latvia , Lithuania , Cyprus and Malta would join the European Union . The Danish EU Presidency had drawn up a joint declaration from all 25 member states of the Community and declared that this was a "great moment for Europe". The common goal of all signatories is to make Europe a "continent of democracy, freedom, peace and progress". The Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel stressed on the sidelines of the conference: "This is the reunification of Europe " and "a historic day for the EU". With an expansion of almost 30%, it was the largest enlargement round in the history of the European Union to date. It had previously been reported that Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic had rejected an offer from the EU. Poland in particular was dissatisfied with the first offers.

Chancellor Gerhard Schröder brokered the negotiations with Poland to finance the accession. The compromise was: Poland should receive one billion structural aid less than planned in 2005 and 2006, but one billion more budget aid. The advantage for Poland was that the budget support was uncommitted. The EU agreed to the compromise because it did not exceed the previously negotiated financial package of 40.5 billion euros.

Accession negotiations continued with Bulgaria and Romania , but not with Turkey . On the eve of the enlargement summit, the winner of the previous Turkish parliamentary election , Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , announced that his country would "fight to the last second" in Copenhagen in order to get a date for accession negotiations before 2004. However, the fifteen member states declared further conditions for the start of accession negotiations with Turkey, which, after some hesitation, were reluctantly accepted by the Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gül . That was not a good decision, but Turkey had to live with it, Gül said in Copenhagen. Economic and political reforms were once again imposed on Turkey, which the European Commission will evaluate at the end of 2004. Depending on the outcome of this examination, accession negotiations could begin the following year. In contrast to a Franco-German proposal, however, a date for this was not announced.

The desired peace solution for the divided Cyprus did not materialize in Copenhagen. After accession, the entire island would become a member of the EU, but Community law would only be implemented in the Greek-speaking south of the country.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b EU agreed with candidate countries. Copenhagen summit. spiegel.de, December 13, 2002, accessed on May 6, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b c Biggest expansion in EU history perfect. Copenhagen summit. faz.net, December 14, 2002, accessed May 6, 2016 .
  3. ↑ From Copenhagen to Copenhagen: A first balance sheet of EU enlargement policy. bpb.de, May 6, 2003, accessed May 6, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Copenhagen advises on eastward expansion. EU summit. faz.net, December 12, 2002, accessed May 6, 2016 .