EU expansion fears aired

NYKOPING, Sweden -- Fears have been raised that EU enlargement will damage the economies of existing member nations.

Germany, Austria and Spain voiced concern on Saturday at a summit of EU foreign ministers.

They said that jobs and regional aid could be at stake when less prosperous newcomers join.

IN-DEPTH   •  Embarking on expansion   •  EU enlargement map   •  History of EU growth   •  Nice: Europe's next steps   •  What kind of Europe?   •  Key leaders' views

Poland, Hungary, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Cyprus and Malta are expected to join the EU from 2004.

Germany and Austria want to keep Polish, Hungarian and Czech workers and their families out for at least seven years.

The European Commission estimates that admitting 10 Eastern European nations to the EU could result in migration to the West of 3.9 million people over 30 years.

Most will go to Germany (2.5 million) and Austria (470,000), officials say.

Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner said: "Austria is the only country surrounded by four candidate countries. We have to protect our employees. We have to slowly open the market."

Spain is concerned the eastward expansion will jeopardise EU aid of 42.9 billion euros ($38.3bn) that flows to its poorer regions in the 2000-06 period.

Prime Minister Jose-Maria Aznar has threatened to scuttle the entry talks unless he gets a guarantee that aid for Spain will not be cut.

"We don't want to hinder or slow down enlargement," Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique said, but rather "find a position of solidarity."

Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, host of the weekend talks in her home town of Nykoping, said it was crucial to decide by July whether Eastern Europeans will be allowed to look for work in the EU as soon as their countries join.

"The most important issue we have to deal with is freedom of movement" of workers, Lindh said.

The EU has set no entry dates, but the most promising candidates may join as early as 2004.

The European Commission -- bowing to German and Austrian concerns of an influx of job seekers -- has suggested a seven-year waiting period for East European workers once their nations join the union.

It proposes a similar waiting period before EU citizens can buy land or homes in new member states.

Poland fears an influx of Germans into areas from which German-speakers were expelled after the Second World War.

The EU ministers were also discussing the Middle East and the Balkans, and were to be briefed on an EU delegation visit to North Korea this week.

They also will debate the use of human rights clauses in trade accords.

On Sunday, the EU foreign ministers will be joined by their counterparts from the candidate nations in this coastal town, 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of the capital, Stockholm.

The candidates -- Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Malta, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania., Slovenia, Slovakia and Turkey -- have been invited to give their opinions on the future shape of the EU once its membership balloons to 27.

The candidate countries oppose the idea of a transition period for labour movement as they feel this would relegate them to a second division within the EU.

That debate within the current 15-nation bloc is revealing crucial differences on whether the EU should move toward a federal Europe, or stay a club of sovereign nations.

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