Europe's Growing Pains

Setting the stage for its largest expansion ever, European Union leaders agreed Friday on financial terms with 10 countries, mostly from the formerly communist east, to bring them into the union in 2004.

The deal ended a summit dominated by Turkey's anger over a delay in its own plans to join the EU, and a tussle over how much aid current members must give new entrants.

"Accession of 10 new member states will bring an end to the divisions in Europe," said Romano Prodi, the president of the European executive Commission.

"For the first time in history Europe will become one because unification is the free will of its people," he added.

The summit capped four years of arduous one-on-one negotiations with the candidate states. To join, candidates must absorb 80,000 pages of EU legislation covering everything from agriculture to antitrust rules.

It will be the first expansion since Austria, Finland and Sweden joined in 1995, bringing the current total to 15 countries.

With the new members, the EU will surpass the North American Free Trade Agreement as the world's largest market, with 445 million people compared to NAFTA's 416 million.

But while the two-day, history-making meeting ended with the landmark financial agreement, it was far from flawless. The deal masked last-minute wrangling over the size of aid packages to the new entrants. And friction with Turkey over when it might be admitted marred the whole gathering.

The 15 EU leaders then sought to make their offer palatable by converting $1 billion in development aid into ready cash in 2005 and 2006, but found no takers. Poland and the Czech Republic held out for better benefits, German officials said.

The 10 candidates — Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus and Malta — are to join in May 2004.

Their entry will be the EU's largest, most ambitious expansion ever and one that carries huge political significance, for it will erase the continent's Cold War divide.

"This achievement testifies to the common determination of the peoples of Europe to come together in a union that has become the driving force for peace, democracy, stability and prosperity on our continent," the EU leaders said in the draft of a communique they planned to issue.

Leaders of the 10 candidate nations and the 15 EU states will meet in Athens, Greece, next April for a formal ceremony.

Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic rejected an initial expansion package of $41 billion in farm and other subsidies that the EU was putting before the candidates.

Poland — with a population of nearly 40 million people, one-fifth of them dependent on agriculture — was the most vocal in seeking a better financial handout. The largest EU candidate, Poland held out for a better deal and got one.

EU diplomats said Poland won extra money for its farmers, but details were not immediately available.

The new members must meet strict economic guidelines to enter and remain in the union, including restrainign the size of government debt and federal deficits, keeping their currencies stable and inflation in check. Those policies are meant to smooth their transition to the Euro common currency, which they must join -- unlike some current EU members, like Britain, Denmark and Sweden.

After the first 10 new nations join, the next expansion round will bring in Bulgaria and Romania — due in 2007. Waiting in the wings are Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania.

And then there's Turkey, the EU's most problematic newcomer.

Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, who had enlisted President Bush's help in support of Turkey's bid to open negotiations next year, accused EU leaders of bias against his Muslim nation of 66 million. Mr. Bush apparently offered the help partly because Turkey's cooperation would be vital if war breaks out with Iraq.

But after further talks with EU leaders, Turkey indicated it would accept the decision despite disappointment over having to wait until at least the end of 2004 — a year longer than hoped for.

Sources said the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Finland were less eager for early Turkish EU membership, worried about Turkey's shaky human rights record, fragile economy and assertive military.

Europeans also chaffed at what many saw as U.S. interference in their affairs, with an underlying suspicion Bush's interest was due to a desire to please a vital NATO ally as tensions mount over Iraq.

Britain, Italy, Greece and Spain favored an early entry while France and Germany sought to take the middle ground.

In the end, the 15 EU leaders agreed to review Turkey's application in December 2004, with a promise to open talks if it meets the EU's minimum political, human rights and economic membership conditions.

The human rights concerns revolve around issues such as those identified by Amnesty International in its annual report: extrajudicial executions, political killings, restrictions on expression, poor prison conditions.

In a bid to assuage some of those fears, Turkey banned the death penalty earlier this year.

Gul vowed to continue with human rights, political and economic reforms in order to qualify for membership in the European Union. And Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of Turkey's new ruling party, denied Turkey was angry.