PARLIAMENT PRESIDENTS MEET IN LJUBLJANA TO DISCUSS EXPANSION OF EU

LJUBLJANA, April 18 (Hina) - Fears that the process of expansion of the European Union could slow down dominated the start of a two-day meeting between the parliamentary presidents of countries aspiring to join the EU and the President of the European Parliament, Nicole Fontaine. The meeting, which started in Ljubljana on Tuesday, is also attended by the President of the Croatian National Sabor, Zlatko Tomcic, who was invited by his Slovene counterpart Janez Podobnik. Fontaine said only a well-prepared European Union would be able to accept a large number of new members. There is a possibility the first new EU members will participate in the elections for the European Parliament as early as 2004. According to Fontaine, countries which have applied for EU membership have achieved significant progress in the reforms they were asked to implement. According to Fontaine, an ambitious reform of the EU does not oppose its speedy expansion, on the contrary - it welcomes it. She added the admission of new members would depend exclusively on their readiness. Along with 13 parliamentary presidents from countries-candidates of the first and second rounds, the Ljubljana meeting is also attended by the president of the Italian Parliament, Luciano Violante, and Antonio de Almeida Santos, president of the Portuguese Parliament, the country chairing the EU. (hina) jn rml