On 8 November 1994, the French daily newspaper Le Monde speculates on the cost of the successive enlargements of the European Union.

On 27 March 1996, the Bavarian daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung considers the financial cost of the enlargement of the European Union to include the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs).

On 12 December 1996, the European Parliament adopts a resolution on the financing of the enlargement of the European Union to include the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs).

On 8 December 1997, at the meeting of the General Affairs Council held in Brussels, Hubert Védrine, French Foreign Minister, and Pierre Moscovici, French Minister for European Affairs, both refer to the financial aspects of the enlargement of the European Union.

On 30 March 1998, the French Catholic daily newspaper La Croix tries to reassure its readers about the cost of financing the forthcoming enlargement of the European Union.

On 11 December 1998, Günter Verheugen, German State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, delivers an address at the Tutzing Evangelical Academy in which he outlines the implications of the future enlargement of the European Union.

On 8 June 1999, in Berlin, Ludger Volmer, German State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, delivers an address to the Bundestag in which he refers, in particular, to the financing of the enlargement of the European Union.

On 24 February 2000, the Bavarian daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung speculates on the impact of the enlargement of the European Union and of the reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) on the budget forecasts set out in Agenda 2000.

On 30 January 2002, the European Commission issues a press release in which it outlines the various stages of the financing of the enlargement of the European Union.

In April 2002, the journal Revue du Marché Commun et de l’Union Européenne publishes an article by Jean-Pierre Baché, Director in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Budget, which outlines the financial aspects of the enlargement of the European Union to include the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs).

On 13 June 2002, the European Parliament adopts a resolution on the financial impact of the enlargement of the European Union.

Meeting in Brussels on 24 and 25 October 2002, the Fifteen take a series of important decisions on budgetary, financial and institutional issues which have become necessary as a result of the forthcoming enlargement of the European Union.

On 25 October 2002, the daily newspaper La Libre Belgique analyses the compromise secured at the Brussels European Council on the financing of the fifth enlargement of the European Union.

Le 4 décembre 2002, évoquant le Conseil européen de Copenhague des 12 et 13 décembre, le quotidien français Le Monde examine la nature des revendications de la Pologne en matière de financements agricoles européens.

On 8 July 2003, with a view to the forthcoming enlargement of the European Union, the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB) comments on the reform of the European Structural Funds for the period 2007–2013.

On 19 October 2004, Claudie Haigneré, French Minister for European Affairs, outlines to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly in Paris the consequences of the enlargement of the European Union on the Community budget.

On 25 March 1999, in an article published in the Vienna daily newspaper Die Presse, Manfred Scheich, Austrian Ambassador to the European Union, considers the operation of the Community institutions with a view to the future enlargement of the EU.

On 14 February 2000, the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung considers the consequences of the enlargement of the European Union on the way in which the Community institutions operate.

On 7 May 2003, commenting on the forthcoming accession of 10 new Member States to the European Union, the French daily newspaper Le Monde describes how the European Parliament and the Council welcome observers sent by those countries with a view to preparing their political and administrative staff for the Community structure.

On 19 February 2003, in Brussels, Neil Kinnock, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Administrative Reform, holds a press conference in which he emphasises the Commission’s need for additional human resources with a view to the fifth enlargement of the European Union and outlines the procedures and objectives of the recruitments.

On 21 February 2003, the French daily newspaper Le Monde outlines the difficulties involved in the recruitment of European officials from the 10 future new Member States of the European Union.

On 13 April 2004, commenting on the enlargement of the European Union to include 10 new Member States, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro speculates on the way in which the Community institutions will work when faced with the increase in the number of official languages.

Diagrams showing the participation by Member States in the funding of the Community budget following successive enlargements.

On 1 May 2004, the accession of ten States brings the number of Member States in the European Union up to twenty-five.

In February 2004, Archduke Otto von Habsburg, President of the International Paneuropean Union and former Member of the European Parliament, expresses his enthusiasm for the accession of eight States from Central and Eastern Europe and of Malta and Cyprus to the European Union.

On 26 February 2004, two months before the fifth enlargement of the European Communities, Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg Prime Minister and Finance Minister, delivers an address at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) in Paris in which he considers the progress made by the countries of Europe along the road towards European integration.

In this interview, Jacques F. Poos, Member of the European Parliament and former Luxembourg Foreign Minister, comments on the implications of the fifth enlargement of the European Union, due to take place on 1 May 2004, and focuses on the question of Turkey’s application.

On 22 April 2004, the day before the accession to the European Union of ten new States, Michaele Schreyer, European Commissioner for Budget, Financial Control and Fraud Prevention, and Jos Chabert, Government Minister for the Brussels-Capital Region, take part in the unveiling of a fragment of the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the end of the division between East and West, in Parc Léopold in Brussels at the foot of the European Parliament building.

On 26 April 2004, Eneko Landaburu, Director-General of Enlargement at the European Commission, talks to the Belgian daily newspaper La Libre Belgique about the implications of the accession of 10 new Member States to the European Union.

On 29 April 2004, the French President, Jacques Chirac, delivers an address on Europe and answers journalists’ questions on the implications of the enlargement of the European Union.

On 29 April 2004, commenting on the enlargement of the European Union to include 10 new Member States and with a view to the European elections and the national referenda on the European Constitution, the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit emphasises the central role to be played by European citizens in the new Europe.

On 30 April 2004, Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, delivers an address in Trieste in which he refers to the enlargement of the European Union and the prospects for growth and considers the new economic opportunities for Central Europe.

Heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, Archduke Otto von Habsburg-Lothringen, Member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1999, argues strongly in favour of the accession of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs) to the European Union.

‘Hooray, now we are 25!’ On 30 April 2004, the German cartoonist, Horst Haitzinger, takes an ironic look at the importance for the European Union of its enlargement to include 10 new Member States.

In 2004, the Czech cartoonist, Pavel Matuska, takes an ironic look at the European Union’s ability effectively to manage the accession of 10 new Member States, bringing the total number of Member States to 25.

On 1 May 2004, Bertie Ahern, Irish Prime Minister and Acting President of the Council of the European Union, makes a speech in Dublin in which he welcomes the historic significance of the enlargement of the European Union to include ten new Member States and he underlines the challenges that the Twenty-Five will henceforth have to face.

On 1 May 2004, Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, makes a speech in Dublin in which he welcomes the historic significance of the enlargement of the European Union to include ten new Member States, emphasising the international implications of European integration.

On 1 May 2004, Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament, makes a speech in Dublin in which he welcomes the historic significance of the enlargement of the European Union to include ten new Member States and expresses his admiration for the progress made by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

On 1 May 2004, the day of the accession to the European Union of 10 new Member States, the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, the Polish Prime Minister, Leszek Miller, and the Czech Prime Minister, Vladimir Spidla, meet in Zittau — a German town situated at the intersection of the borders of Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic — and symbolically mark the enlargement.

‘A bridge to the future.’ On 1 May 2004, the German cartoonist Sakurai illustrates the historical importance of the latest enlargement of the European Union and particularly emphasises the renewal of ties between the countries of Western European and those of Central and Eastern Europe.