UK urges EU expansion 'digestion'

By Oana Lungescu
BBC News, Brussels

The UK is one of the vocal supporters of EU enlargement

UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has called for a "digestion pause" before the European Union expands further.

But he repeated EU pledges to existing applicants - Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Croatia and other Balkan countries.

Mr Straw was speaking to members of the European Parliament at the start of the UK's rotating presidency of the EU.

Britain has always been one of the most enthusiastic supporters of enlargement. London sees it as the best antidote against European political integration.

But, amid calls from the French and the Dutch that enlargement should be slowed down, even Jack Straw sounded a more cautious note.

The pace at which the EU can be enlarged depends on its capability and capacity Jack Straw UK Foreign Secretary

"We've made commitments to Turkey, we've made commitments to Croatia, my view is that we have to follow those commitments through," Mr Straw said.

"As to other aspirant countries, enlargement is a magnet," he said.

"I think we all accept that the pace at which the EU can be enlarged depends on its capability and capacity.

"We've got to have a period not of reflection, but of digestion for the time being. Because the enlargement that has just taken place and is likely to take place with Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Turkey is bigger than any single process of enlargement ever before.

"That does not however mean that we should not maintain this magnetic attraction for the EU, even if the pace at which other countries come in may be different."

Pause under way?

Some have said the pause has already begun - with suggestions that even Bulgaria and Romania, which have already signed an accession treaty, should be delayed by one year to give the EU more time to sort out its financial and constitutional crises.

But Mr Straw thinks they still have a chance to join on time.

Jack Straw said EU membership was a "magnet"

He also seemed to signal a more flexible line on Croatia.

Britain led the camp of EU governments that opposed the start of entry talks with Zagreb until it did more to find the fugitive General Ante Gotovina, one of the top indicted war crimes suspects in the Balkans.

"On Croatia, the decision of the European Council has been not that the test is whether Gotovina is delivered to The Hague [war crimes tribunal] but whether there is full co-operation with the tribunal in The Hague," Mr Straw told MEPs.

Some EU members, like Austria, believe it would be unfair to start membership talks with Turkey - set for 3 October - before Croatia.

But Jack Straw made clear he would resist calls to delay them or to offer Ankara a "privileged partnership" rather than full membership - as the German Christian Democrat opposition and some leading French politicians want.

The EU president spent much of his time in the European Parliament talking about the aftermath of the London attacks and trying to persuade MEPs to help counter-terrorism efforts by lifting their opposition to plans for an EU agreement on holding mobile data to help trace terrorists.

Convincing European voters that EU membership for Turkey is crucial to improving relations with the Islamic world will be much harder.