8. State of accession negotiations with Estonia
A5-0251/2001
European Parliament resolution on Estonias application for membership of the European Union
and the state of negotiations (COM(2000) 704  C5-0604/2000  1997/2177(COS))
The European Parliament,
 having regard to Estonias application for membership of the European Union, submitted on 24 Nov-
ember 1995, pursuant to Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union,
 having regard to the 2000 Regular Report from the Commission on Estonias progress towards acces-
sion (COM(2000) 704  C5-0604/2000),
 having regard to the Enlargement Strategy Paper on progress towards accession by each of the candi-
date countries presented by the Commission (COM(2000) 700),
 having regard to the decisions taken by the European Council, notably at Copenhagen (21/22 June
1993), Helsinki (10/11 December 1999), Nice (7-9 December 2000) and Gothenburg (15/16 June2001),
 having regard to the Accession Partnership for Estonia concluded in 1999. having regard to its resolution of 4 October 2000 on Estonias membership application to the Euro-
pean Union and the state of negotiations (COM(1999) 504  C5-0027/2000  1997/2177 COS)) (
1),
 having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure, having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security
and Defence Policy and the opinions of the other committees concerned (A5-0251/2001),
A. mindful of the absolute necessity to make a success of the EU enlargement process,
B. convinced that this presupposes openness, frankness and respect for agreed rules and principles, on
the part of the EU institutions and the Member States as well as on the part of the candidate countries,
C. convinced also that, in the most difficult final phase of the negotiations, all parties must refrain from
making unreasonable demands; expecting that, instead, their actions will demonstrate their unstintingcommitment to the project of healing the wounds inflicted upon our continent by tragic events in thepast,
D. whereas Parliament has made an important contribution to defining the principles and policies that
are now guiding the enlargement process; whereas these principles and policies have proven theirworth,
E. whereas Estonia continues to make good progress in its preparations for EU membership and has
clearly emerged as one of the leaders among the candidate countries,
F. whereas the quality of Estonias preparations and the extent to which it has been ready to make
commitments have allowed the negotiations to proceed at a steady pace,
G. whereas the momentum should be maintained and this implies that particular problems and potential
obstacles are clearly identified and properly dealt with,
(1) OJ C 178, 22.6.2001, p. 130.C 72 E/166 EN 21.3.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 5 September 2001
Fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria
Political criteria
1. Recognises that Estonia clearly satisfies the political criteria for EU membership;
2. Welcomes the fact that the problems with the legal environment in which the relationship between
ethnic minorities in Estonia and Estonian society at large is evolving have essentially been resolved;
encourages Estonia to proceed with the implementation of its programme Integration of Estonian Society2000-2007;
3. Supports the view that further development of Estonian language skills within the mainly Russian-
speaking ethnic minority groups is important; is concerned, therefore, about the persistent difficulties inensuring easy access to Estonian language training of sufficient quality, in particular in the North-Easternpart of the country, where it is most needed;
4. Encourages Estonia to accelerate ongoing efforts to reform the judiciary, improve prison conditions
and prevent instances of misconduct by police and correction personnel;
5. Congratulates Estonia on regularly receiving more favourable rankings in corruption estimates than
virtually all other EU candidate countries and also some Member States; is aware that there is nevertheless
scope for further improvement and notes Estonias efforts to that end;
6. Welcomes the recent decision of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) to repeal several provisions of
the old penal code (Kriminaalkoodeks) that discriminated against homosexual men and lesbian women byadopting the new penal code (Karistusseadustik);
Economic criteria
7. Supports the Commissions conclusion, in the last Regular Report, that Estonia is a functioning
market economy and should be able to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the EUin the short term, provided that it stays on its current path of reform;
8. Congratulates Estonia on its highly successful economic development, characterised by strong
growth, limited inflation, a considerable inflow of foreign direct investment, balance in the public financesand a current account deficit that is gradually being brought down;
9. Notes that this success is made possible not least by a clear policy for macro-economic stability,
extensive reliance on market forces, emphasis on education and a keen interest in exploiting the possibil-ities opened by technological progress;
Acquis criteria
10. Notes the detailed overview and assessment included in the Commissions 2000 Regular Report;
notes, also, that Estonia considers this report to be objective; recognises that, since its publication, Estoniahas made further progress in transposing the acquis ;
11. Welcomes the successful provisional closure of accession negotiations on the environment chapter;
trusts that the rhythm of transposition and implementation of the acquis will be maintained, so that
interim targets and investment plans can be met as agreed in accession negotiations, in particular withregard to EU nature conservation legislation, which has to be fully enforced by the date of accession; callsfor the proposed amendments to the Protected Natural Objects Act, currently under discussion in theEstonian Parliament, to be approved;
12. Notes that the environment chapter has been provisionally closed with Estonia and that four tran-
sition periods have been negotiated, including one for drinking water lasting up to 2013; calls for carefulmonitoring of progress, with the involvement of all stakeholders, including environmental NGOs, in meet-ing the intermediate targets that have been agreed, and of the implementing measures and financingarrangements that are envisaged;21.3.2002 EN C 72 E/167 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 5 September 2001
13. Points to the need for a greater level of public awareness and consultation on issues concerning the
creation of a Natura 2000 network of protected areas; welcomes the decision of the Estonian Governmentto allocate considerable resources from the state budget to restore and manage valuable semi-naturalhabitats; encourages the Government to continue this policy in order to prevent the degradation of theseimportant habitats;
14. Stresses that it is absolutely necessary that each new Member State should be able to properly
implement the acquis communautaire in its entirety; notes the Commissions analysis, in its latest report, of
where and to what extent Estonia needs to improve its administrative capacity still further; also notes thatEstonia approves the broad lines of this analysis;
15. Sympathises with Estonias general efforts to eliminate all unnecessary bureaucracy and its interest
in innovative solutions to administrative problems, including through the intelligent use of new techno-logy; welcomes the prospect of forthcoming proposals from Estonia on how the Community acquis can be
simplified, clarified and made easier to implement; recalls, however, that the requirement for the properimplementation of the existing acquis still applies, irrespective of any conceivable, proposed or already
adopted amendments to it;
16. Regards it as unacceptable that foreign works can continue to be disseminated legally in Estonia
without permission and without any fee being paid to the author;
The Pre-Accession Strategy
17. Points to the difficult situation in North-East Estonia, where high unemployment, degradation of the
environment, uncertain economic prospects, spread of HIV, insufficient capacity of the judiciary and otherphenomena form a cluster of problems that calls for a comprehensive response;
18. Recalls that Estonia, after accession, will receive considerable EU funding for regional development;
calls on it to resolutely address existing problems with regard to institutional structures and administrative
capacity and to pay particular attention to partnership with all levels of government, social partners andNGOs, so as to make sure that it will be prepared to make the best possible use of future EU support;
19. Stresses the need to ensure a larger degree of flexibility as regards the size of projects to be financed
under ISPA programme, so as to better respond to the needs of local and regional communities;
20. Notes opinion polls in Estonia which point to a drop in support for EU membership and is con-
cerned that some of the candidate countries may turn their backs on the reunification of Europe, since thiswould diminish the force and capacity of European cooperation;
The negotiations and crucial issues in view of Parliaments assent to Estonias accession
21. Notes the Unions own preparations for enlargement and takes into account the decision that it
should be ready to receive new members from 1 January 2003; points out that the timing of the firstaccessions should therefore in practice depend exclusively on the candidate countries preparations andthe successful conclusion of their negotiations; notes, however, that the political commitment of EUleaders must be reinforced;
22. Welcomes and supports the road map for the conclusion of the negotiations prepared by the Com-
mission and endorsed by the Nice European Council; notes that progress so far is in line with it; concludesthat it should be realistic for the first accessions to take place before the European elections in 2004, butrecalls that the road map gives little margin for delay and urges that the pace be kept up;
23. Considers that it is of crucial importance for the cohesion of the Union that the acquis communaut-
aire should accord the same rights and obligations to all Member States; stresses that this principle needs to
be defended against ill-founded demands for transitional solutions or special arrangements, whether fromcandidate countries or existing Member States;C 72 E/168 EN 21.3.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 5 September 2001
24. Declares its intention to vigorously oppose any attempt that might be made to introduce any new
requirement for candidate countries; considers that avoiding unnecessary delays in the negotiations andaccessions is important for the Unions credibility;
25. Resolutely distances itself from any action whatsoever to block negotiations on a specific chapter,
or to block the accession of any country, in order to insist on a demand which is of no relevance at all tothe chapter in question, or which has nothing to do with the state of preparedness for accession of thecountry or countries affected by this action;
Other major issues and recommendations
26. Draws attention to the fact that unemployment is high and that considerable disparities in econ-
omic development also pose challenges to economic and social cohesion;
27. Welcomes the fact that the Estonian Sapard agency has finally been accredited; stresses the import-
ance of integrated rural development for the enlargement process; notes with concern, however, the ruralpopulations lack of information on, and growing dissatisfaction; calls on the Commission to help ensurethat there is a considerable improvement in the information provided to the rural population on ruraldevelopment plans and in its involvement in them;
28. Welcomes Estonias forthcoming accession to the European Environmental Agency, its first full
membership of an EU body; notes that its membership of the agency will open up new opportunities forEstonia to take part in exchanges and to receive support in adapting the EUs environmental rules, in asituation where the country continues to suffer the after-effects of half a century of Soviet communistoccupation;
29. Supports Estonias efforts to become fully integrated into Euro-Atlantic security structures and
stresses Estonias right to determine its security policy independently;
30. Looks forward to Estonias full participation in the Common Foreign and Security policy; is con-
vinced, not least in the light of Estonias present and past active participation in the UNs peace-keepingactivities, that Estonia can make an important contribution to the EUs efforts, in accordance with theTreaty, to strengthen the Unions security, preserve peace and enhance international security, promoteinternational cooperation and develop and stabilise democracy, the rule of law and respect for humanrights;
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31. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the parliaments of
the Member States and the government and parliament of Estonia.
9. State of accession negotiations wih Latvia
A5-0252/2001
European Parliament resolution on Latvias application for membership of the European Union
and the state of negotiations (COM(2000) 706  C5-0606/2000  1997/2176(COS))
The European Parliament,
 having regard to Latvias application for membership of the European Union, submitted on
27 October 1995, pursuant to Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union,
 having regard to the 2000 Regular Report from the Commission on Latvias progress towards acces-
sion (COM(2000) 706  C5-0606/2000),
 having regard to the Enlargement Strategy Paper on progress towards accession by each of the candi-
date countries presented by the Commission (COM(2000) 700),21.3.2002 EN C 72 E/169 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 5 September 2001