NoC313/40 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 30.11.92
OpiniononthefutureenlargementoftheCommunity
(92/C313/16)
On25February1992theEconomicandSocialCommittee,actingunderthefourthparagraph
ofArticle20ofitsRulesofProcedure,decidedtodrawupanOpinionontheFuture
EnlargementoftheCommunity .
TheSectionforExternalRelations,TradeandDevelopmentPolicy,whichwasresponsible
forpreparingtheCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon11September
1992(Rapporteur :MrBernardMourgues).
Atits299thPlenarySession(meetingof23September1992)theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeadoptedthefollowingOpinionbyamajoritywith10abstentions .
0.Introductoryremarks
0.1.ThedebateonEnlargementisbynomeansnew.
ItwasevenreferredtointhepreambletotheTreaty
ofRome.Todayitisbeingdiscussedinaverydifferent
contexttotheoneprevailingin1957.TheCommunity
wasborninaworlddividedintoopposingideological
andmilitaryBlocs.Thesedivisionshavebeenreplaced
bythelocalconflictsonethnic,religiousandeconomic
andsocialpolicyissueswhichhavebrokenoutinsome
countriesinEasternandSouth-Eastern Europe.
TheprospectofaSingleMarketforthe12ECMember
Statesfrom1January1993hasneverthelesstriggered
achainreaction.
0.2.MembershipoftheCommunityissoughtafter.
Turkey,Cyprus,Malta,Austria,Sweden,Finlandand
Switzerlandhaveofficiallyappliedformembership .
Othercountries,suchasthoseofCentralandEastern
Europe,willprobablyfollowinthenextfewyears.
0.3.Whilstuptonow,economicconsiderationshave
beenlargelyatthecentreofdiscussionsonEnlargement,
fromnowonimportantpoliticalconsiderations will
cometothefore.
0.4.TheEdinburghEuropeanCouncilistotakenote
ofthepositionsadoptedbycertainMemberStateson
theratificationoftheEuropeanUnionTreaty.Itwill
thenbeuptotheEuropeanCounciltoconsiderthe
conditions,asregardsthe'deepening'oftheCom­
munityandtheuseofArticle237oftheRomeTreaty,
underwhichofficialnegotiationsonaccessioncan
begin.Community'sidealshavebeenencouragedtoapplyfor
membershipbythenewprospectswhichareopening
up.
1.2.AttheconclusionoftheEuropeanCouncilmeet­
inginMaastrichtinDecember1991thePresidency
statedthat
'TheEuropeanCouncilrecallsthattheTreatyon
EuropeanUnionwhichtheHeadsofStateand
Governmenthavenowagreed,providesthatany
EuropeanStatewhosesystemsofgovernmentare
foundedontheprincipleofdemocracymayapply
tobecomemembersoftheUnion.
TheEuropeanCouncilnotesthatnegotiationson
accessiontotheEuropeanUniononthebasisof
theTreatynowagreedcanstartassoonasthe
CommunityhasterminateditsnegotiationsonOwn
Resourcesandrelatedissuesin1992.
TheEuropeanCouncilnotesthatanumberofEuro­
peancountrieshavesubmittedapplicationsor
announcedtheirintentionofseekingmembership
oftheUnion.TheEuropeanCouncilinvitesthe
Commissiontoexaminethosequestionsincluding
theimplicationsfortheUnion'sfuturedevelopment
andwithregardtotheEuropeanCouncilinLisbon.'
1.3.AnysuchintroductoryreportbytheCom­
missionontheImplicationsofEnlargementforthe
FutureDevelopmentoftheCommunity,mustaddress
thefollowingissues:
a)theSingleMarketwillbecomegenerallyeffective
on1January1993;
b)theEuropeanEconomicArea(EEA)mustalso
becomeeffectiveon1January1993,probably
extendingaSingleMarketinmostgoodsandser­
vicesover19Europeancountries.Itwillintroduce
freemovementofgoods,services,capitalandper­
sonsthroughouttheEC-EFTABloc,withatotal
populationof372million;1.Generalcomments
1.1.ThebasisofanydiscussionofEnlargementmust
betheTreatywhichstatesclearlyinArticle237that
'anyEuropeanStatemayapplytobecomeaMember
oftheCommunity...';EuropeanStatessharingthe

30.11.92 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC313/41
c)betweennowandJanuarytheMemberStateswill
belockedindiscussionsontheratificationofthe
MaastrichtTreatyandonitsimplications .
1.4.Consequently ,theconclusionsofthePresidency
issuedattheendoftheLisbonCouncilon26/27June
1992,draftedonthebasisofthereportpresentedby
theCommission ,statethat'negotiationsonaccession
totheUniononthebasisoftheTreatyagreedin
MaastrichtcanstartassoonastheCommunityhas
terminateditsnegotiationsonOwnResourcesand
relatedissuesin1992'.2.Applicantsformembership
2.1.Oftheapplicationsformembershipcurrently
onthetable,thoseoftheEFTAcountries(Austria,
Finland,Sweden,andSwitzerland )donotappearto
poseanyinsurmountable difficulties.Thesecountries
seemtobecapableofacceptingtheCommunityacquis.
ThesamewouldbethecaseforNorwayifitwereto
applyformembership .
2.2.Thefollowingcommentsarecalledforinregard
totheotherapplicants :
2.2.1.Turkeyhastheadvantageofitsvitalstrategic
position.ItisessentialtolinkthisState,whichstraddles
EuropeandAsia,morecloselytotheEuropeanUnion.
Dialoguewillbesteppedupsoastodoeverything
possibleto:
—speedupeconomicdevelopment
—establishdemocracythroughoutthecountry
—setupaconstitutionalstateonceandforall
—ensurethathumanrightsarerecognizedirrevocably.
ThereunificationofCypruswouldatalleventsappear
tobeaprerequisitefortheacceptanceofTurkey's
application .
2.2.2.Cyprus,inconjunctionwiththeUnited
Nations,andwiththesupportoftheEuropeanUnion,
mustsolvetheproblemposedbypartition,whichmust
bebroughttoanend.Intheimmediatefuture,however,
itisvitaltohelptheStateofCyprustoboostits
economicdevelopmentbymeansofagreementsestab­
lishingcloselinkswiththeEuropeanUnion.
2.2.3.Malta'smembershipdoesnotposeanyserious
problemfortheEuropeanUnion.Inviewofitssize,a
membershipagreementshouldbeconcluded,assoon
astheEuropeanUnion'skeyinstitutionshavebeen
established (cf.Point4.1below).1.5.TheEuropeanCouncilconsidersthat'theEEA
agreementhaspavedthewayforopeningenlargement
negotiationswithaviewtoanearlyconclusionwith
EFTAcountriesseekingmembershipoftheEuropean
Union.Itinvitestheinstitutionstospeeduppreparatory
workneededtoensurerapidprogressincludingthe
preparationbeforetheEuropeanCouncilinEdinburgh
oftheUnion'sgeneralnegotiationframework .The
officialnegotiationwillbeopenedimmediatelyafter
theTreatyonEuropeanUnionisratifiedandtheagree­
menthasbeenachievedontheDELORSIIpackage
(thesecondseriesoffinancialandstructuralmeasures).
Negotiationswiththecandidatecountrieswill,tothe
extentpossible,beconductedinparallel,whiledealing
witheachcandidatureonitsownmerit'.
TheCommitteethereforenotesthatenlargement
shouldnotbeachievedattheexpenseofconsolidating
theCommunity ;theCommunity'sachievementsmust
notbeundermined .Thismustbequiteclearbothto
MemberStatesandtoapplicantcountries.
TheEuropeanCouncilagreesmoreoverthat'this
enlargementispossibleonthebasisoftheinstitutional
provisionscontainedintheTreatyontheUnionand
attacheddeclarations'.
1.6.Underthesecircumstances ,accessiontothe
EuropeanUnionwillberootedinagenuinepolitical
willonthepartofcandidatecountries.Infacttheywill
havetoaccept,theprospectofacommonforeignand
securitypolicy.
1.7.WhetherornottheCommunityinsistsonthis,
andhowthecandidatecountriesthemselvesreact,will
determinethepoliticalstructureofEuropefordecades
tocome.3.ThecountriesofCentralandEasternEurope
3.1.TheEuropeanAgreementsnegotiatedbetween
theCommunityandCzechoslovakia ,PolandandHun­
garymeanthatthesecountrieswillhavetoprovethat
theyqualify,politicallyspeaking,bydevelopingand
strengtheningdemocracyandtheirconstitutional legit­
imacyand,economicallyspeaking,byestablishinga
marketeconomy.Theirdevelopmentwillalsoundoubt­
edlybesignificantlyinfluencedbytheconsistencyof
theEuropeanUnion'scontributiontotheireconomic
recovery .
3.2.OthersimilarEuropeanagreementsmustbe1.8.TheintegrationoftheEuropeanCommunity,its
progressiveenlargementandthecohesionofEuropean
Union,asshapedbytheMaastrichtTreaty,arevitalto
thecontinent'sfuturestability.Inthisrespect,therole
ofEuropeanUnionwillbecomeevenmoredynamic
anddecisiveassoonasitscohesionisreflectedinthe
developmentofitsinstitutions .

NoC313/42 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 30.11.92
4.2.Overandaboveanalysesofthespecificshort
andlong-termproblemsandcircumstancesofappli­
cantsformembership,accounthastobetakenofthe
repercussions ontheInstitutions'capacityandthe
financialresourcesoftheUnionforpursuingthegoals
setoutintheMaastrichtTreaty.Suchissuesarenot
goingtoappearontheagendaofanIntergovernmental
Conferencebefore1996,buttheneedforchangesin
thisareatocopewithenlargementdoescallforimmedi­
ateandcarefulthoughtonthematter.considered.Theycouldbenegotiatedandatalater
stageprobablyconcludedinthefollowingorder:
—RomaniaandBulgaria(negotiationswiththese
countrieshavealreadybegun)
—theBalticStates
—theformerYugoslavstatesandAlbania
—Russiaandanumberofothermembersofthe
Commonwealth ofIndependentStates(CIS).
Thesenegotiationswillrequiretime.Theywillbefacili­
tatedtotheextentthattherelevantnegotiationsare
conductedsimultaneously forgroupsofcountries
havingagreedjointlytoa)jointheranksofconsti­
tutionalstatesandmarketeconomiesandb),inthe
caseofsomeofthem,settlecurrentethnic,religious
andpoliticalconflicts.TheCommitteefeelsthatorgan­
izationsrepresentingsocioeconomic interestsshouldbe
involvedinpreparingthesenegotiations .
TheCommitteestressesthatthefutureofCentraland
EasternEuropecontainsaweightychallengeforthe
Europeancontinent.4.3.TheCommitteeconsidersthatwhentheCom­
munityisenlarged,itwillbenecessarytorespectat
leastthebasicdemocraticprinciplethatdirectivesand
regulationsadoptedbyamajorityCouncildecision
mustbeendorsedbytheEuropeanParliament.
4.4.Theseweightyquestionshavebeendeliberately
glossedoverintheTreatyreformfollowingMaastricht,
includingthematteroftheEconomicandSocialCom­
mittee'sroleandpositionwithintheframeworkofthe
Institutions (cf.Article193).
TheCommitteeurgesthatguidelinesneverthelessbe
drawnupatthenextSummitandthataroughtimetable
forworkonthisissuebeoutlined.TheCommittee
particularlystressesthecompellingneedtocombine
aninstitutionalbalancebetweenMemberStateswith
effectiveoperationoftheInstitutions .3.3.Indeed,EconomicandMonetaryUnionwillfur­
thertightenuptheconditionsforapplicantcountries.
Itisbecomingincreasinglyclearthattimewillbe
requiredforthechange-overfromstateeconomiesto
economiesbasedontheprinciplessetoutintheMaas­
trichtTreaty.Forthisreason,andtoenablethese
countriestodevelopalongsoundlines,theyshouldbe
givenhelptocopewiththetransitioninitiatedby
specificagreements,interaliabyconsultingthemin
ordertodefinejointpolitical,economicandsocial
policies.TheconceptunderlyingEuropeasan'econ­
omicarea'asdistinctfromthe'continent'persewill
probablyalsohavetobedefined.
5.Conclusions
4.Theinstitutionswillhavetoadjusttomatchthe
task
4.1.Toremoveanyambiguitywithregardtothe
implicationsofaccessiontotheEuropeanUnion,the
Committeestronglyrecommendsthattheimpactofa
substantialenlargementontheEuropeanInstitutions
betakenintoaccountandanalyzedinfuturenego­
tiations.Forastart,theaccessionagreementstobe
negotiatedwiththeEFTAcountries(cf.Point2.1
above)willrequirecertainchangestotheinstitutions,
currentlyunderexamination (themembershipofthe
Council,theEuropeanParliamentandtheCom­
mission).Malta'saccession(cf.point2.2.3above),for
example,meansthatchangesmusthenceforth (and
increasinglysointhefuture)gearthelevelofMember
Statesrepresentation totheirgeographicanddemo­
graphiccloutwithintheEuropeanUnion,whilefully
respectingsovereignty .5.1.Thegeopoliticalandeconomicsituationofthe
EuropeanUnionisamagnetfornon-membercountries
inCentral,EasternandMediterranean Europe.Like­
wiseotherMediterranean countriesareandwillbe
increasinglyaffectedbytheEuropeanUnion.Under
thesecircumstances ,theEuropeanUnionmuststepup
economiccooperationwiththeseareassoastobalance
tradeandboosteconomicdevelopment ,onbothits
EasternandSouthernflanks.Suchcooperationmust
includethegradualdismantlingofbarrierstotrade.
Whetherornotthesecountriescankeeptheir
expandingpopulationsathomewilldependlargely
ontheseactions.Assistingthesecountriestoreapthe
benefitsofprogressandexpansionoftradewillhelp
maintainequilibriavitalfordefusinginternalcrises
whicharealwaysdangerous,bothforthecountries
themselvesandforEurope.

30.11.92 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC313/43
5.2.TheprospectofCommunityenlargementpre­
sentsmajorchallengestowould-bemembersandthe
presentCommunityalike:
—forcandidatecountries,theirmajorchallengeisthat
ofadaptingswiftlytotheconditionsofEuropean
UniononcetheMaastrichtTreatyisratified;
—forthecountriesofCentralandEasternEurope,
theirsistobeabletorespondtotheaspirationsof
theirpeoples,consolidatingdemocracyandinten­sifyingsocialandeconomicdevelopment ;
—fortheCommunity,itsInstitutionsanddecision­
makingproceduresmustbeadequateforthetask
ofcopingwithalargernumberofMemberStates.
5.3.TheCommitteebelievesthatachievingthese
objectivesentailsdeterminationandaconcomitantpol­
iticalwillbothonthepartofcurrentECMember
Statesandthecountriesaspiringtomembershipofthe
EuropeanUnion.
DoneatBrussels,23September1992.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
MichaelGEUENICH
OpinionontheGreenPaperontheImpactofTransportontheEnvironment :ACommunity
strategyfor'sustainablemobility'
(92/C313/17)
On31March1992theCommissionoftheEuropeanCommunitiesdecidedtoconsultthe
EconomicandSocialCommittee,underArticle198oftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropean
EconomicCommunity,ontheGreenPaperontheImpactofTransportontheEnvironment :
aCommunitystrategyfor'sustainablemobility'.
TheSectionforTransportandCommunications ,whichwasresponsibleforpreparingthe
Committee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon9September1992.TheRapporteur
wasMrBleser.
Atits299thPlenarySession(meetingof24September1992)theEconomicandsocial
CommitteeadoptedthefollowingOpinionby68votesto32,with18abstentions .
1.Introduction oftransportontheenvironment^).TheGreenPaper
assessestheoverallimpactoftransportontheenviron­
mentandproposesaglobalapproachdesignedtoachie­
ve'sustainablemobility'whichwillenabletransportto1.1.BriefsummaryoftheGreenPaper
OnaproposalfromMrKarelVANMIERT,theCom­
missionerresponsiblefortransportpolicy,theCom-
missionhasadoptedaGreenPaperontheimpact (l)COM(92)46final.