I should like to point out that, in a sense, this matter has already been settled, as the Helsinki European Council set the 1 January 2003 as the date when the European Union should be ready to accept the first new members, i.e. the ones that are the best prepared at that time, on condition, of course, that by that time a proper treaty has been signed in Nice and ratified by the national parliaments.
Lad mig i den sammenhæng erindre om, at der i en vis forstand allerede er taget stilling til dette spørgsmål. Det Europæiske råd fastslog således under mødet i Helsinki, at Den Europæiske Union senest den 1. januar 2003 skal være klar til at optage de første nye medlemmer, altså de medlemmer, som på det tidspunkt er bedst forberedt til optagelse.