“A quiet revolution”: that’s how Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission, calls the process of the Union’s enlargement. Addressing the session of the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels on 5 November, Prodi reviewed the situation regarding the entry of the next “members” of the Union. “The official date of the entry of the 10 new countries into the Union is 1st May 2004, but the prospect of enlargement has already produced positive effects Prodi told the assembly . The Union is increasingly becoming a model for civil and political development in many countries”. The Union has succeeded according to the president of the Commission in putting into practice “noble ideals”, such as peace, democracy, greater opportunities for economic prosperity and, together with it, solidarity with the more disadvantaged regions and classes. Prodi added that he was convinced that the entry of the new member states next year would not cause any problem in the implementation of the so-called Community acquis (i.e. the sum of provisions contained in the Treaties in force that form the basic corpus of European law). “Of course, there still remain problems to be ironed out, but I have great confidence Prodi continued that all the countries will overcome these obstacles. One of the tasks of the enlarged Union will be that of perfecting the process of enlargement that is continuous and irreversible. Our common objective is to complete the process of the membership of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007. As regards Turkey, next year will be decisive; we shall have to evaluate how far Turkey will respect the political criteria of Copenhagen and make a recommendation on whether to open membership negotiations”. The president of the Commission lastly explained that already Croatia “is knocking on the Union’s doors”, just as other Balkan countries could do. In this too, we must be able to respond with intelligence and farsightedness and clearly state that membership is a concrete prospect”.
