madam president i am very grateful for this opportunity to share a few thoughts with you
enlargement has rightly been called one of the most successful policies of the european union many of us in this debate have said this
and the idea that the central values of europe democracy human rights solidarity should encompass all the states of europe has been and will remain at the heart of europe's identity
the europe that exists was built around the proposition that through integration the states of europe will gradually accept a peaceful resolution of conflicts but this process does not come without effort
the acceding states must undergo a thorough transformation in order to meet the requirements of eu membership
the process it should be stressed is voluntary
no state is coerced into joining but in order to join the eu certain conditions must be met
at the same time precisely because meeting the conditions requires a major effort acceding states must also be encouraged to make the effort involved and not only that
the obligations that go with eu membership must be transferred from paper to practice
without implementation the process remains empty
this is the message that the albertini resolution is sending to prospective candidates for eu membership
the eu is ready to accept the states of the western balkans and turkey as full members but it is up to them to meet the conditions that the eu has set
