Estonia: membership application

The committee adopted the report by Gunilla CARLSSON (EPP-ED, S) on Estonia's application for membership of the EU and the state of the negotiations. The committee felt that Estonia could become one of the first candidate countries to accede to the EU. It noted that Estonia met the Copenhagen criteria and welcomed the amendments to the language law to align it with international standards. It regarded the forthcoming adoption of the State Integration Programme as an important development. Estonia was praised for its highly successful economic transition process and the keenness with which it had embraced the new information technologies. The report also congratulated Estonia on ratifying the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime. However, it highlighted the magnitude of the task of meeting EU environmental standards, and also pointed to the distortions of competition caused by the CAP to agricultural markets in the applicant countries. �