Working Group on European Integration The Enlarged EU Needs an Effective Neighbourhood Policy B y May 2004, the European Union(EU) will have extended to 25 Member States and thus assume greater international importance and responsibilities. Following this major phase enlargement the EU‘s prio­rity will have to be to integrate its new Member States, instead of discussing the accession of further mem­bers. Another consequence of this is that the EU urgently needs to develop an effective, independent neighbour­hood policy. In its Communication entitled"Wider Europe – Neighbourhood: A New Framework for Rela­tions with our Eastern and Southern Neighbours", the European Commission opened the debate on this is­sue. The Union's neighbouring countries are a mixed bunch, whose individual situations and relations with the EU vary considerably. Whereas the remaining EFTA countries – Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland – are stable, prosperous and democratic, the EU's eastern and southern neighbours are faced with numerous difficulties which impact on the EU and can be attributed to poverty, delays in modernisation, de­fective democracies and internal and international con­flicts. However, there are substantial differences within this group of countries. Bulgaria and Romania look set to join the EU before the end of the decade. A decision on the launch of negotiations with Turkey will be ta­ken in December 2004, as the European Council in Thessaloniki stressed once again. The current version of Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union also gi­ves the EU´s new eastern neighbours – Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova – the possibility of applying to join the EU. 1 By contrast the EU's southern Mediterranean neighbours have no prospect of acceding to the Union. 1 Article 49 of the version modified by the Treaty of Amsterdam states that:"Any European State which respects the principles set out in Article 6(1) may apply to become a member of the Union." Similarly, Article 57 of the draft Treaty on a European Constitution dating from 27 June 2003 states that:"The Un­ion shall be open to all European States which respect the values referred to in Article I-2, and are committed to promot­ing them together." The principles or values invoked here in­clude democracy und the rule of law, freedom, the protection The objective of the EU's neighbourhood policy must be to create an area of shared values, of peace, freedom and prosperity. In this respect, neighbour­hood policy can convert the positive potential for co­operation within Europe into a practical foreign policy and make the most of the comparative strength of Eu­ropean policy. When this goal has been reached, a multilateral, cooperative model of global domestic po­licy will have been realised at regional level that can serve as an example for the world as a whole. It is here that the approach advocated by the EU of taking pre­ventive measures to resolve international conflicts has its counterpart. 2 This policy comes at a price, but the costs involved are low compared with those with which the EU would be saddled if it neglected its neighbourly duties and found itself in an unstable environment, in a neigh­bourhood racked by crises and conflicts. On the other hand, closer cooperation between the EU and its neighbours throws up a great many opportunities for enhancing Europe's economic potential and increasing its global political clout. Finally, an effective neighbour­hood policy will prevent the creation of fresh rifts on the borders of the enlarged EU, which is particularly important to the Union's new Member States. Differentiated action plans within overall regional concepts The architecture of this neighbourhood policy must take account of the heterogeneous nature of the sub­regions Southeastern Europe, Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean, because both their respective problems and the outlook regarding their relations with the EU (candidates for accession, association, trade or coop­eration agreements) vary. Whereas the EU has already started developing and implementing a specific neigh­of human rights, human dignity and equality(the latter two values only appear in the newly drafted version). 2 See also the report by Javier Solana, High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU, entitled "A secure Europe in a better world", European Council, Thessaloniki, 20 June 2003.