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EU needs new institutional arrangement before next enlargement, says Rehn

Autor: ;half;
BRUSSELS, May 19 (Hina) - After the accession of Bulgaria and Romania, the European Union should agree its new institutional arrangement in 2008 or 2009, before the next enlargement round, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said in Brussels on Friday.
BRUSSELS, May 19 (Hina) - After the accession of Bulgaria and Romania, the European Union should agree its new institutional arrangement in 2008 or 2009, before the next enlargement round, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said in Brussels on Friday.

By the summer of 2008 we have to finish the debate and decide what kind of new institutional arrangement we need. This will happen before the next possible enlargement, be it Croatia or Iceland, Rehn said in a debate on enlargement organised by the European Policy Centre.

The Nice agreement, based on which the EU functions, is designed for 27 member countries. This number will be met with the accession of Bulgaria and Romania, which will join on 1 January 2007 or a year later.

Rehn said the new institutional arrangement was not necessary because of enlargement but in order to make the current EU function better.

He went on to say that due to a certain enlargement fatigue, it was now necessary to built a new consensus on enlargement which should take into account the European strategic interest and provide for the Union's functional capacity.

Rehn said the Union's absorption capacities referred to whether the EU could accept new members and continue to function effectively at the same time. This is a functional and not a geographical concept, he added.

Rehn said the EU must reform its institutions and policies in order to face the challenges of the world of today, but added that parallel to that, the Union must work on enlargement instead of keeping the western Balkans and Turkey hostages to its internal discussions.

Rehn said the EU showed that it was serious about the meeting of accession criteria this month when it interrupted negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, because of the failure to extradite Ratko Mladic to the Hague war crimes tribunal, as well as this week, when it decided to postpone until the autumn its decision on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania.

Those delays are a clear signal to candidates and the public that the Union is serious about membership conditions, said Rehn.

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