Lithuania: membership application and partnership, 8 December 1995

Adopting the report by Mr. Frode KRISTOFFERSEN (EPP, DK), the committee emphasised that, from a political point of view, it was not advisable to divide the Baltic states into two groups, especially as there was no obvious difference in their situation, at least not between Estonia and Lithuania. It also confirmed that each and every applicant country had the right to be judged on the same basic criteria and on its own achievements. The report calls for Lithuania's accession process to be speeded up so that intensive negotiations with that country can begin shortly. The amendment by the PES group, calling upon the Council and the Commission to reassess the degree of preparation in Lithuania so that negotiations could start by the end of June 1999 was rejected.�