§ 26. Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress of Hungary's application for membership of the European Union. [117193]
§ Mr. VazHungary has made good progress in its negotiations for membership of the EU since they started in March 1998. Last week we opened another two chapters of the EU acquis communautaire (on Regional Policy and Financial Control), bringing the total number of chapters currently under negotiation to 25 (out of 31). Hungary has provisionally closed seven of those chapters, is near to closing several more, and is working successfully at implementing necessary reforms. We want Hungary to join the European Union as soon as it is able to meet the obligations of membership.