Kristian Vigenin, on behalf of the S&D Group. – Mr President, the enlargement strategy paper and the resolution we are going to adopt tomorrow show our strong commitment to the enlargement policy, which has proved to be one of the most successful of all EU policies and has benefited both existing and new Member States.

Enlargement has contributed to an unprecedented extension of the area of peace, security and prosperity in Europe and now we prepare the further extension of this area to encompass in the years to come the western Balkans, Iceland and Turkey.

The Alliance of Socialists and Democrats remains one of the most pro-enlargement forces in this Parliament, while underlining that no compromises can be made with the fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria and all the important benchmarks on which the preparedness of the candidates is evaluated.

We hope to see the negotiations with Croatia concluded as early as possible next year. We expect that the Council will confirm the proposal of the European Commission to start negotiations with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia next year so that the process can begin next year. We hope for new dynamics in the negotiation process with Turkey including opening of the energy chapter. And we believe that the EU can keep up the momentum reinforcing the positive developments in all enlargement countries. The visa liberalisation is an excellent step to demonstrate to the people in the western Balkans that they move in the right direction.

Let me also express the hope that the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty will further increase the capacity of the EU to integrate new members, finalising the institutional reforms within the Union.