On February 9, 1999, the Ambassador of the European Commission Delegation to Slovakia WALTER ROCHEL submitted his credentials to the Slovak Premier, acting in President's capacities, Mikulas Dzurinda. Our reporter Ľubomír Mešťánek asked Mr Rochel for an interview.

Your Excellency, how should the cooperation between Slovakia and the European Union until Slovakia becomes a regular EU member look like?

Our mutual cooperation with Slovakia has been excellent in all spheres, however, the relations between the EU and Slovakia have a much more intensive character than that expressed by the word cooperation. Since the September 1998 general election, the entire atmosphere in Slovakia has changed. Slovakia has been incorporated in the pre-entry strategy, which attempts to gradually establish structures comparable to those of the member states. This applies especially to the so called Copenhagen Criteria, which provide for several variants for the EU accession of a state. Slovakia is gradually meeting these criteria. It is necessary to emphasise that all pre-entry instruments used in the countries, with whom the accession talks have already began - instruments of the European agreement, the current bilateral screening, national programme for the taking over of Acquis and the Partnership for Entry - are also at the disposal of Slovakia.

The development of which fields or activities is in your opinion crucial for Slovakia in this period of associated membership in the EU? Is it economy, the democratic system or approximation of Slovakia's legal norms to those of the EU?

You have just quoted the Copenhagen Criteria, which are the conditions of the EU membership - political and economic criteria, criteria regarding the Community's legislation, the so called Acquis. In autumn, the Union is to issue the Report on the progress Slovakia reached in the preparation for the EU accession, which will assess the real progress in meeting the aforementioned criteria. On the base of the Report, the Union will recommend as to whether open accession talks are going to be held also with Slovakia. Although political criteria embodying the tasks of the EU are the most important, economic criteria and criteria related to Acquis are also significant. The EU accession is conditioned by meeting these three criteria, there are no other conditions.

Which are the steps Slovakia should take in order to surmount the problems which make us different from Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and other countries of the so called first group, with whom the entry talks already began?

It is true that the talks with countries you have just named had already begun. Nevertheless, I would like to emphasise that as yet, Slovakia has not lost anything, since the initial talks regarded mainly several simple chapters of the Acquis. Slovakia still has all of the pre-entry instruments at its disposal. In order to eliminate that what makes Slovakia different from its neighbouring countries, it is essential to reach the greatest progress possible in meeting the Copenhagen criteria. Substantial progress has been registered in political field. In this regard, the request for passing an act on the use of minority languages was one of the crucial problems. We were told that the pertinent law it is going to be passed by June. As far as the economy is concerned, the Government announced that it is going to deal with the problem of external and internal deficits, which were unusually high in 1998. Recent statistics published by the Finance Ministry, which regard the external deficit, show a slight improvement - the January and February 1999 deficit, which reached Sk7 billion, represents 62 per cent of the deficit reached in the first two months of 1998. As far as the internal deficit is concerned, the 1999 budget, which became effective early in April, will be decisive. The Community retains that in order to decrease the universal governmental deficit from 5-6 per cent of GDP in 1998 to 2 per cent in 1999, it will be necessary to take further measures in the field of revenues and expenditures. There is also the problem of the indebtedness of the companies. However, the implementation of the economic measures itself, will be the most essential.

As far as the Acquis is concerned, it will necessary to adopt such legislative measures which will lead to the approximation of the Slovak norms to the EU norms and start using them in practice. I mean especially the fundamental issues of internal market, as standardisation of the certification, public acquisition, state's endorsement to entrepreneurs who commenced their activities recently etc. Some of the aforementioned norms are to be approximated as early as in 1999.

Which initiatives and exact steps does the EC Delegation to Slovakia plan to take in order to help Slovakia?

I have mentioned the pre-entry strategy with its various instruments. The two most important tools are the "National Programme for Meeting the Acquis Communautaire" and the "Partnership for Entry", from which various priorities result for the accession process. It is a very significant issue, because since 1999, these priorities are connected to the Community's support through the PHARE programme. In December 1998, the Slovak Government and the European Commission signed an agreement on Slovakia being granted nearly EUR80 million from the PHARE programme. In this regard, it is necessary to point to the fact that the tasks of the EC Delegation to Slovakia have been strengthened. Since 1999, for instance, the so called de-concentration rules, from which results that the PHARE projects up to EUR5 million proposed by the Slovak party, will be approved by our delegation. This support will substantially increase in 2000, along with the introduction of two new pre-entry supportive instruments: SAPARD for the investments into the environmental and transportation infrastructure and ISPA - for the development of the country. My personal opinion is that it is important to transfer the informative activities promoting the EU from Bratislava, where they have already been consistently presented, to other Slovak regions.

I am looking forward to gradual fast-tracking of the EU enlargement in 1999. I hope that the EC will have the possibility to recommend the start of the talks about Slovakia's EU accession as early as in its next Report on the preparedness for the EU Entry, based on the accomplished progress, which is to be issued in autumn 1999. At the end of 1999, the EU Helsinki summit could decide on starting the talks about the EU accession with Slovakia.

Your Excellency, what is your personal opinion on "Euro-scepticism"?

By introducing of the new European currency in early 1999, Europe reached probably its greatest success in the thus far integration process. We have also registered certain progress in discussing the Agenda 2000, which is the basic reform package of joint agricultural, structural and financial policy as well as the strategy concerning the enlargement of the Union. The current German presidency of the Union deals with these issues very intensively.

In the current situation it is essential that those who believe in Europe unite and remain faithful to the idea. I think that this is the right moment for expressing our European conviction. The experience shows that in the integration process, it was the critical situations, which eventually lead to progress on the way to the European Union. The results of the Berlin summit also proved that there is enough will to resolve common problems. They are also a promise that the most significant task the EU has to face on the verge of centuries - the Union's enlargement- will be successfully accomplished.

New ambassador

Walter Rochel was appointed as the new head of the European Commission Delegation in the Slovak Republic, with a honorary ambassador title.

W. Rochel was born 13 April 1959 in Linz, Austria. He graduated from the Department of Law at the Vienna University, acquiring his PhD doctorate in law science, and from the Vienna Diplomatic Academy. His diplomatic career started in 1986 at the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Austrian Republic. In 1988 he left for the Austrian embassy in Riyadh. From 1989 to 1995 he was a staff member of the Austrian embassy in Paris, in charge of bilateral relations in economic, scientific, and agricultural areas, and also in charge of the European Union affairs. He was the EUREKA Austria high representative in 1997 and became a deputy director of the COREPER department.

W. Rochel has been serving on the European Commission since 1 November 1998.