The EU's role on the world stage has been steadily increasing over recent years. The Union is cooperating more and more closely with other countries and regional and international organizations, with the aim of promoting democracy, stability, respect for human rights, and economic development. Within this context, Greece is consistently but wisely active within the EU, exploiting the advantage of her geographical position and recalling her commitment to peace and stability.

Greece is one of the countries which support all the Community initiatives within the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) framework, participating actively in the police mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUPM), the police mission in FYROM (PROXIMA) and in the ALTHEA military mission, which took over from the corresponding NATO mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina. At the same time, Greece also plays an active role in the shaping of the EUs Common Trade Policy, within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and in negotiations on bilateral trade agreements between the EU and third countries.

ENLARGEMENT

In 2004, the Union began the most extensive enlargement in its history. Ten additional countries (Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic) were incorporated into what is now the 25-member EU of 450 million citizens; an EU that reunited what had until recently been a divided continent.

On April 25, 2005, the Bulgarian and Romanian EU Accession Treaty was signed in Luxembourg, which will complete the fifth EU enlargement, and bring the number of member states to 27. The accession of these two countries extends the EU towards the southeast, giving it, for the first time, access to the Black Sea and its important trade routes, providing a link with Russia and the CIS, and adding two more Balkan countries to the EU (in addition to Greece). Bulgaria and Romania are set to become full members on January 1, 2007. However, certain specific clauses in the Accession Agreement provide for the Councils postponing for one year (until January, 2008) the accession of both or one of these countries, in the latter case giving them separate accession dates and decoupling them.

Moreover, with the conditions stipulated in the Conclusions of the European Council of December 17, 2004 having been met, on 3rd October 2005 accession negotiations with Turkey and Croatia began.

In the case of Turkey, this development was due to the increased momentum in her accession course over the last few years. An associate member since 1963, Turkey signed a Customs Union Agreement in 1995, and was officially recognised as an accession candidate at the 1999 Helsinki European Council, with the consent of Athens. With the active support of Greece, the December 2004 European Council decided to open accession negotiations on October 3, 2005, on specific terms and conditions. Even if this goal was achieved and negotiations are now underway, Turkey's EU path is expected to be a lengthy one, along which issues of particular interest to Greece will need to be resolved.

In Croatias case, the December European Council decided that accession negotiations should begin on 17/03/2005, with the proviso that Croatia had provided concrete proof of her full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Following a briefing by the ICTYs prosecutor on 16/03/2005, the Council decided that the necessary conditions had not been met, and postponed the start of negotiations pending proof of full cooperation. As a result of Croatia having adopted a National Plan of Action on Cooperation with the ICTY, and having intensified her efforts, a Task Force was set up to this end, mandated to ascertain that Zagreb was indeed cooperating fully. Subsequently, on 3 October 2005, the Council deemed that accession negotiations could begin, which indeed they did that very same day.

WESTERN BALKANS

Greece has played a leading role in shaping the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP), the EUs main instrument for the countries of the Western Balkans. The objective of this policy is the future accession to the EU of the regions potential candidate states. These include Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, Albania, FYROM and Croatia (which is already negotiating EU accession-see Enlargement).

The Thessaloniki Agenda, adopted by the Thessaloniki European Council (20-21/06/03), strengthened and enriched the Stabilisation and Association Process through the addition of pre-accession elements, comprising the institutional framework for the European course of the Western Balkans leading up to their future accession.

Croatia and FYROM have already concluded Stabilisation and Association Agreements with the EU within the framework of this process. Albania is currently in the process of negotiating the terms of a similar agreement. Negotiations with Serbia-Montenegro began on 10/10/2005, and are also expected to begin with BosniaHerzegovina, depending on the course of developments there.

Greece's strategic objective is the future accession of all of these countries to the EU, with full implementation of the Copenhagen criteria and in compliance with the terms of the Stabilisation and Association Process. During her EU Presidency, she organized the June 2003 EU-Western Balkans Summit Meeting in Thessaloniki, which was the culmination of efforts to accelerate the EU course of these countries.

Greece believes that the European prospects of the Balkan countries can serve to promote the overall stability of this sensitive region, and that a series of bilateral issues can be fully resolved within the European framework.

As has already been noted, Croatia has already begun accession negotiations, while FYROM is awaiting the Commissions Opinion (Avis) on her application for accession. Our country supports the choices of these two countries. More specifically, however, with regard to FYROM, she looks forward to finding a mutually acceptable solution on the name issue as soon as possible, so that undesirable complications can be avoided when the Council is called upon to decide on the opening of accession negotiations with this country.

EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICY

The European Neighbourhood Policy is the EU's dynamic new policy aimed at further developing bilateral relations with all neighbouring countries in the region. The aim of this policy is to enhance E.U. cooperation with neighbours to the east (The Caucasus countries) and south, i.e. the Mediterranean countries.

For Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Moldova and Ukraine are included in the first stage. The next phase will look into drawing up Action Plans with the countries of the Southern Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan) and Belarus, although as yet there is no specific timeframe. As to the Mediterranean, the first group of countries includes Morocco, Tunisia, Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan. They will be followed in the second wave by Egypt (initial contacts have already been established), Algeria and Lebanon (as soon as ratification of their Agreements has been completed), and finally Syria, whose Association Agreement has just been initialled. For the time being, the ENP will be implemented within the existing framework governing the EU neighbourhood (Euro-Mediterranean Agreements, Partnership Agreements), with bilateral Action Plans being drawn up in addition between the EU and each country separately. Our country is particularly interested in this policy, given her proximity and good relations with the region in question.

Concerning Ukraine in particular, Greece welcomed the election of V. Yushchenko as President, and is looking forward to the promotion of EU-Ukraine relations based on the provisions of the Action Plan. With the proviso that these provisions will have been satisfactorily implemented by the time the plan expires (late 2007), our country will consider the possibility of upgrading the existing framework of EU-Ukraine relations, taking account of the conditions and relations prevailing at such time.

The EU is cultivating a special, privileged relationship with Russia. Our country has played an important role in EU-Russian relations, and at the EU-Russia Summit in St. Petersburg during the Greek Presidency (May 2003), the two sides agreed to work together to create a common space in four sectors: 1) economy, 2) freedom, security and justice, 3) external security, and  4) research, education and culture.

EURO-MEDITERRANEAN PARTNERSHIP

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EUROMED), as a multilateral relationship, has been in place since November 1995, when the Barcelona Declaration was adopted. It is thus already in its tenth year and is deemed to have forged closer relations between the two sides towards creating an area of peace, stability and prosperity in the region. EUROMEDs tenth anniversary will be celebrated this year, and besides assessing the past ten years it is expected that priorities will be set for the future of the partnership.

EUROMED is strengthened by the European Neighbourhood Policy, which is the main mechanism for the implementation of EU policy in the region (see above). Additionally, the Strategic Partnership Relationship initiative was recently developed with the Mediterranean and the Middle East, promoting reform through cooperation and sharing, rather than through the imposition of positions.

Greece is participating actively in the implementation of EUROMED and in the shaping of the parameters that will determine its future. Within this framework, the strengthening of political dialogue is of the utmost importance, as is the promotion of confidence-building measures between partners, the promotion of investments in Mediterranean countries for the support of the reform process, the promotion of cooperation measures in the Justice and Home Affairs sector, the enhancing of cultural dialogue through the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures, as well as increased participation of civil society through the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly in the Barcelona Process.

USA

Trans-Atlantic trade and investment between the EU and the USA amounts to almost 1 billion per day. On the political level, the two sides share identical positions on a series of issues, while there has recently been significant convergence with regard to matters which in the past were the subject of disagreement between the US and certain EU member states.

Our country is playing a constructive role within this framework, while our handling of the Iraq crisis in 2003 was particularly appreciated.

ASIA AFRICA LATIN AMERICA

The EU is also actively involved elsewhere in the world.

As a member of the EU, Greece participates actively in the three sectors of cooperation (political, economic, cultural/educational) under the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and this at all levels (Heads of State and Government, Foreign Ministers, Finance Ministers, Culture Ministers, etc.). EU initiatives and actions aimed at strengthening relations with the major powers of the Asian continent (China, Japan, and India) have Greece's full backing.

Moreover, the EU, through its active participation in the Summit Meetings of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), as well as in meetings at all levels of cooperation ministerial meetings with individual countries or regional groups of countries, negotiations for the concluding of Association Agreements with MERCOSUR countries strives to make the best use of the broad network of relations existing on both sides.

Similarly, through its Agreements with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, through the opening of a new dialogue with the African Union, and through its genuine interest in the region of the Great Lakes and meetings with Gulf countries inter alia, the EU with the active participation of our country seeks on a daily basis to increase its presence around the globe.

DEVELOPMENT AID

In many cases, EU actions are accompanied by generous aid programmes (MEDA, for Mediterranean partners; TACIS, for Eastern Europe and Asia; PHARE, for candidate countries; CARDS, for the Western Balkans; PVD-ALA, for Asia and Latin America, etc.). The amount of aid provided by the EU to countries on all five continents amounts to 500 million per month. Efforts are currently under way to reassess these programmes within the broader discussion of the new EU financial perspectives for 2007 and beyond. The specific objective is to replace the 100 or so funding measures by six that will cover the broad areas of European policy. For 2007, commitments to the tune of 11.4 billion have been earmarked for external aid, which by 2013 will gradually climb to 15.74 billion, corresponding to 8.5-10% of the annual budget.

CONCLUSION

With its ongoing enlargement process, the constant upgrading of its external relations and the increase in related funding, the EU with the equal and particularly active participation of our country has taken its place as a major global power, showing in the clearest possible manner that different countries can successfully join forces not only to promote their common interests, but also for the common good.