The European Union's grandiose plan to admit as many as 13 new countries in the next decade was thrown into confusion last night after the man in charge of the process suggested that the sceptical German public should vote on the matter. Germany should not, he stressed, make the same mistake with enlargement as it had with the single currency. Mr Verheugen was also criticised by the French, German and Finnish foreign ministers although his own spokesman later claimed that he had only been expressing his personal views and was not seeking to delay enlargement. The EU is negotiating with 10 eastern european countries and two Mediterranean island states.
Turkey is also a candidate for membership, although is unlikely to be admitted any time soon.