Mr President, Commissioner, I am speaking here in a dual capacity, as rapporteur for Malta and as chairman of the joint parliamentary committee for Poland, and I am therefore grateful that you have allowed me extra speaking time. Because of its geopolitical position as the last outpost of Europe, at the crossroads with the Middle East and North Africa, the importance of Malta goes far beyond its geographical size and its small population. The European Parliament and the European Council of Vienna, with Wolfgang Schüssel, who at the time was still serving as Austria’s foreign secretary, in the Council presidency, therefore welcomed Malta’s decision to reactivate its accession application, which had been frozen since 1996. It was only logical for the European Council in Helsinki in December last year to give the green light for the resumption of accession negotiations with Malta when the accession negotiations were extended. There is no doubt that Malta fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria and, as a functioning market economy, should be able to cope with competitive pressure within the Union by pursuing the steps under way to restructure its industry and to reduce the government deficit. Malta also has stable, working, democratic institutions. The national action plan to implement the acquis is creating the conditions needed to restructure and modernise the economy of this island republic. As rapporteur, I am naturally aware of the fact that Malta has the same problems adjusting to the EU as other candidate countries, except that they are much fewer in number and therefore easier for the EU to cope with. This small island has, of course, been used to protecting its economy from too much competition through protectionist measures and tariffs for a long time and the break up of these structures is a cause of concern to small retailers and family businesses. It is also a matter of concern to the shipyard and dry-dock sector which has been heavily subsidised for a long time, thereby contributing to the public-sector deficit. But reforms are under way here which will help this sector to become economically viable and to survive. Malta is also well on the way to opening up its monopoly of electronic media to the free market. One problem is, without doubt, that it has a great deal of catching up to do in the area of environmental policy and waste disposal, but these problems can be overcome, given time. Financial support under the pre-accession strategy is fundamental for Malta, as is the knowledge that financial aid for Malta should comply with the rules which apply to the other candidate countries. Malta’s main problem is still that the accession process is judged differently by the government and by the opposition, while the European Union just wants to be sure that the accession process progresses steadily. What is needed, therefore, is comprehensive information for the public on the political, economic and social aspects of Malta’s accession to the European Union, together with comprehensive dialogue with all sections of the population and relevant political groups and parties, in order to ensure that Malta’s accession becomes a matter of national concern and in order to pave a straight path for Malta to join the EU. Allow me now to jump across to Poland, which is without doubt a key country in the enlargement process, not just because it is the most expansive of all the central European economies but because of its size and geopolitical position. Poland has always been the first victim of the European conflicts which, until just recently, were played out on its territory. It is not its fault that it has taken so long to find its way to the European Union. With all the problems inherent in Poland’s adjustment to the European Union, we must not forget the historical dimension in the case of this country. It cannot be measured solely in numbers like a cost-benefit analysis. It makes sense, especially on the anniversary of German reunification, to remember that it was the Polish Solidarnosc movement which set the downfall of the Soviet superpower in motion 20 years ago and recently enabled Germany to unify. Two factors must be borne in mind: first the EU must complete its internal reforms, so that it is ready to accept new members from 2003 onwards, and the Polish public must be given comprehensive information on the advantages and opportunities of accession. The more difficult negotiations between Poland and the EU may now become, the more we, as representatives of the European Parliament, must do everything to make the process of integrating Poland credible. We are not talking about an exact annual figure. But there should be no doubt about the will of the European Union to extend its zone of peace and stability to central Europe and Poland. The tendency in the report on Poland, encouraging its politicians to speed up the harmonisation of its legislation with the EU and implement the acquis, and the successful conclusion of the agreement on the liberalisation of Polish agricultural trade a few days ago are positive signals here. Despite all the difficulties, there is one thing we should not forget: Poland’s accession should be completed with care but as quickly as possible, in the interests of the reunification of Europe.

Political group: PPE-DE