EU expansion chief: 'It is a miracle'
BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- On May 1, 10 more countries enter the European Union after a long and tortuous process of negotiation.
CNN European Political Editor Robin Oakley spoke to the man in charge of those negotiations, EU Enlargement Commissioner Gunther Verheugen, about how their arrival will affect them and the EU, and about prospects for those still outside the EU, like Turkey.
Oakley: Did you ever believe such a hugely ambitious expansion of the EU would ever come about?
Verheugen: It is a miracle. ... Political obstacles were tremendous. ... These countries are very poor. The average of income in Europe will decrease dramatically as a result of the enlargement, and that means that we have to pay substantial funds in order to help them to catch up. I'm not discussing several millions here. Not pocket money. I'm discussing hundreds of millions of euros which we have to spend in the next 10 years, and we have to explain that to European taxpayers that they have to pay for people in Poland and Slovakia and the Baltic countries.
Oakley: Have the existing 15 done enough to ready themselves for the 10 countries coming in?
Verheugen: We are now a continental player, and we have much, much stronger international responsibility, and I have to confess that our instruments and our means to carry such an international burden is not sufficient
Oakley: What justification is there for farmers in countries coming in initially receiving only 25 percent of the aid that is given to farmers in the existing 15?
Verheugen: Well, there are huge differences in production costs. Of course, the land is much cheaper in these countries, wages are much cheaper. ... The market situation is completely different. And if you would give them 100 percent and would not have phasing in -- that's what are doing -- the result would be that the absolutely necessary re-structuring of the agricultural sector, particularly in Poland, would not start.
Oakley: What sort of progress has Turkey made towards its ambition of entry into the EU?
Verheugen: Turkey has to be a fully fledged democracy, the rule of law must be established fully, human rights must be protected. And the political reform process in Turkey is quite impressive as a result of the accession prospect that Turkey has, and the member states have already decided that if the commission comes to the conclusion that the political accession criteria are met, then accession negotiations will start without delay.
Oakley: Will the efforts of some people to keep Europe as a kind of Christian club be an impediment to Turkey coming in eventually?
Verheugen: Turkey is eligible. It doesn't matter that Turkey is so big, that Turkey is so far, that Turkey is so poor and Turkey is a country with a Muslim population. We have a Muslim population already in the present European Union, 14 million we have already. So that is not the point, we are not a Christian club. The European Union is certainly based on values, but religion is not a part of that, it is democracy and the rule of law and human rights.
Oakley: What kind of relationship will the newly enlarged EU develop with countries which will now be on the new EU border, like Ukraine and Belarus?
Verheugen: We have now more member states which have very old, traditional and sometimes very difficult relations with our eastern neighbors, with Russia, with Ukraine, with Belarus, which is today a black hole in the European system. I am absolutely sure our new member states will put a lot of pressure on us to develop a kind of eastern dimension of the EU. ... In the end it would mean we would have a free trade area with 1 billion consumers, the biggest by far in the world.
