Vienna European Council extracts from the Presidency Conclusions 12 December 1998

V. ENLARGEMENT

58. The euorpean Council had a thorough discussion on all aspects of the enlargement process. It welcomes the fact that the overall enlargement process launched in Luxembourg is now well under way. The European Council welcomes the Commission’s first Regular Progress Reports on the basis of its conclusions in Luxembourg and Cardiff and endorses the annexed Council conclusions of 7 December 1998 on European Union enlargement. The European Council stresses that each country will continue to be judged on its own merits. The European Council invites the Commission to present its further progress reports with a view to the Helsinki Euorpean Council.

59. The European Council notes with satisfaction that the six Accession Conferences with Cyprus, Hungary, Poland, estonia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia have entered into substantive negotiations and reached the first concrete results. It urges the Council, the Commission and the candidate countries to maintain the momentum in order to permit intensive negotiations in the first half of 1999.

60. The European Council also welcomes progress in preparation for accession negotiations with Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Bulgaria as described in the Commission’s reports. It notes that the transition from the multilateral to the bilateral phase of the analytical examination of the acquis as from the beginning of the next year will confer new dynamism to the process and thus foster preparation for negotiations.

61. The European Council welcomes Malta’s decision to reactivate its application for Euorpean Union membership and takes note of the intention of the Commission to present at the beginning of next year an updating of its favourable opinion of 1993.

62. The Euorpean Council reiterates the Union’s willingness to continue to provide preaccession aid throughout the process. It welcomes the broad political agreement, in the terms of the Council’s report on Agenda 2000, on the pre-accession instruments which remains however subject to overall agreement on Agenda 2000.

63. The European Council underlines the great importance it attaches to the further development of relations between the EU and Turkey taking forward the Euorpean Strategy to prepare Turkey for membership. In this context it recognises the central role of the further implementation of the European strategy in line with its conclusions in Luxembourg and Cardiff.

64. The Euorpean Council took note of the work of the Euorpean Conference as a forum for political consultation on questions of general concern to the participants. One meeting at Foreign Minsiters level will take place in 1999.

65. The European Council will consider the future role and membership of the European Conference at Helsinki in the light of a report by the Council on the work in the Conference and other for a engaged on similar work. Meanwhile it confirmed the invitation of Switzerland as a «member elect».