Mr Yiannitsis, you have been the recipient of many compliments this morning and I should like to agree in one specific regard: I compliment you on the way in which, in the midst of all the right and proper attention to the Convention for example and transatlantic relations, the Greek Presidency has succeeded in preventing the Western Balkans from sinking into oblivion. That would be quite wrong and extremely foolish. Your starting point is, I think, correct. The question is not if the countries of the Western Balkans will ever join the European Union, but when. Before they can join however there is much that needs to be put right. This conclusion is in itself nothing new. In 1999, after the Kosovo war, the European Union set up the so-called stabilisation and association process, based on an analysis of the problems in the 1990s: ethnic violence, extreme nationalism and the need to develop democratic structures. This approach has – as we have said here many times – been a success. Think of European Union action in Macedonia. But we have reached a point where the European Union’s policy cannot simply be based on an analysis of the 1990s; it must also be based on an analysis of the current and the future problems of the countries in the Western Balkans. These problems are increasingly resembling a problem the present Member States are also having to face, namely socio-economic stagnation. In my opinion this means that we must retain the good points in our current policy in respect of the Balkans. The return of refugees, still exceptionally important, the tackling of organised crime – think of the murder of Djindjic, unfortunately still very topical, active cooperation with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, these are all elements that we must retain. Other elements must be added to them however. As I see it, these are elements from the pre-accession strategy as the Union has known it to date, such as the strengthening of the unilateral trade benefits for the countries of the Western Balkans, the opening of a number of European programmes which has often been mentioned such as the education programmes Leonardo and Socrates and the introduction not only of the logic, but also of the methodology of the cohesion funds as we currently know them. This too is possible in the Western Balkans, as is the step-by-step introduction of the change in visa policy, which Baroness Ludford has previously mentioned. The Greek Presidency has rightly begun with an exchange of students, which is a good start, but it is not enough. What we need is not a repeat of the way in which we have so far drawn the countries of Central and Eastern Europe into the European Union. We now need a tailor-made strategy with elements of our old policy and elements of the new policy that must be added to it. This – and I say this direct to the Council – this needs money. My appeal to the Greek Presidency therefore is to ensure that the new policy, which I warmly support, is feasible in financial terms as well. The trick will be in not creating any new illusions, but bringing the Balkans closer to the European Union. If we fail to do so, we shall regret it dearly later on.

Political group: Verts-ALE