§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress made by Austria's presidency of the EU on enlargement. [54858]
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§ Ms QuinEU enlargement remains a key priority for the UK, and the EU. We welcome progress already made during the Austrian Presidency. The General Affairs Council agreed on 5 October to open substantive negotiations with Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia and Cyprus on 10 November. Initially negotiations will focus on seven chapters of the acquis. We will continue to support the Presidency in its efforts to make further progress before the Vienna European Council.
Meanwhile, the analytical examination of the acquis with those countries not yet in negotiations (Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia) continues. All the applicants are receiving pre-accession assistance within the targeted framework of the Accession Partnerships.
The Austrian Presidency also organised a meeting of the European Conference at Foreign Minister level (for the EU, the 10 Central Europeans and Cyprus) on 6 October which agreed a number of actions in the fight against organised crime (especially child pornography) and regional cooperation on the environment.