The Joint Assessments also play a crucial role in identifying the medium-term economic policy priorities and the Accession Partnerships do likewise with regard to the establishment of priorities for EU technical assistance. Following the tremendous efforts of the last few years, we have now arrived at a stage in which there are no less than 12 applications for EU membership currently under consideration, ten of these from transition countries. Moreover six of the 12 have already begun accession negotiations. When addressing the issue of enlargement, we may ask ourselves what exactly should be required of a member state of the European Union and on what criteria should the eligibility of a candidate country be assessed? Of course, these are not usually questions asked of central bankers and it is certainly not my intention to provide answers to them. As I mentioned earlier, central bankers are not politicians. But, fortunately, there is no need for me to provide answers, since these issues have already been addressed within the context of the current enlargement process. I am referring here to the so-called “Copenhagen criteria”. As I am sure you are aware, these criteria were formulated at the Copenhagen European Council in 1993 with a view to defining a level playing field and ensuring the equal treatment of applicant states.
The criteria related to each step of the process should be implemented in a strict and effective manner, in order to provide the countries concerned with the external constraints necessary to bring their economies in line with the respective standards, while at the same time avoiding any discrimination. Of course, against a background of different starting points and varying degrees of economic transition, a plurality of approaches should be feasible without compromising equality of treatment. Indeed, we do not expect the candidate countries to join the EU or to adopt the euro in a single wave. However, irrespective of the individual time frames pursued, what is clear is that the accession process requires a significant amount of preparatory work on the part of all involved. Conclusion It is probably unnecessary for me to remind you that, whatever the Eurosystem’s involvement in the enlargement process, our primary objective is and will continue to be the maintenance of price stability in the euro area. Hence, any arrangements or other forms of cooperation with accession countries must be without prejudice to the Eurosystem’s independence and its primary objective. Nonetheless, I hope that I have conveyed the message that we at the ECB and the Eurosystem at large are also aware of how the wider economic and political environment can have implications for the fulfilment of our tasks and objectives. As central bankers we do not operate in a vacuum and this is certainly the case with regard to the Eurosystem and the prospect of EU enlargement.