Denmark assumes the European Union's Presidency today for six months that will be dominated by the task of accepting up to 10 new member-states. The Prime Minister, Mr Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has promised to focus almost exclusively on the final stage of negotiations with the candidate countries, mainly in central and eastern Europe.
A summit in Copenhagen in December will decide which countries should join, but Ireland's second referendum on the Nice Treaty and disputes over farm subsidies and Cyprus could derail the plan to enlarge the Union.
"We are at an extremely decisive moment. The opportunity is there to close negotiations on letting the applicant countries join our successful co-operation. The time has come to deliver on the promises we have given each other," Mr Fogh Rasmussen said.
"The Danish Presidency will aim to make a deal in Copenhagen in December. We can create an undivided Europe, one Europe. This will be the historic task of the next six months."
The Prime Minister has warned that a second Irish No to Nice would be a "political disaster" for Europe. But he promised to stay out of the referendum campaign and insisted that the EU had no "Plan B" to proceed with enlargement if Ireland rejects the treaty.
The Irish referendum is not, however, the only potential stumbling block on the path to enlargement. Four countries led by Germany oppose a plan to phase in direct payments to farmers in the new member-states. They argue that the payments should instead be phased out for existing member-states.
Germany's Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schröder, wants to link the deal on direct payments to a planned reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which eats up half of the EU budget each year. The Commission will next week publish proposals to overhaul the CAP, but Mr Fogh Rasmussen warned that the enlargement process should not be overshadowed by worries about the cost.
"The direct costs in the field of agriculture are very limited. The overall budget of the EU amounts to about 1 per cent of our total production. About half of this, 0.5 per cent of total production, goes to the CAP," he said.
"What we are now discussing is to add what corresponds to less than 0.1 per cent of our total yearly production during the current budgetary period. This really cannot justify running the risk of postponing enlargement,"
Greece could block enlargement unless a solution is found to the division of Cyprus, which is one of the candidate countries. The UN is hosting talks between governments from both parts of the island, and Danish politicians are privately confident that the island will unite in time to join the EU as a single entity.
