EU candidates must act before enlargement

When the European Commission ruled at the end of 2002 after years of negotiations that 10 of the 13 candidate countries were ready for membership in the greatest single act of enlargement to date, it did not forget to list the shortcomings that needed to be resolved before they joined. The admonition that "progress has been made" in the fight against corruption, bribery and economic crime, but that "grounds for concern" remain in this respect, is a constant theme in reports in Brussels. Variations on this theme in differing degrees of seriousness can be found in almost all the reports on the individual candidate countries, which speak of concern, grave concern and in the case of Poland very grave concern. The candidate countries still have much to do in order to satisfy the European Commission by the time it produces its next report at the end of the year. The authorities in Brussels have in many cases praised the way laws on corruption have been tightened up in the candidate countries, but have regretted failings in implementation. Weaknesses in administration and the legal systems, which are serious in some cases, have also been criticized in many of the countries in recent reports from the commission. Of particular concern to Brussels is the protection of the EU's external borders and the related problem of illegal immigrants.