Violent protests as E.U. meets Union members

French riot police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of anti- globalisation and trade union demonstrators who attempted to break through barriers near the conference centre as the "European Conference" of 29 leaders got under way. Sixteen policemen were injured, one seriously, in clashes and a bank was gutted by fire.

Shouting slogans such as "The world is not just merchandise" and "A social Europe does not belong to the bosses", protestors hurled stones and bottles at police. Among the heads of state and government attending were leaders from Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Estonia, and Slovenia which are viewed as frontrunners which could be in the European Union (E.U.) within the next three to five years. Also present are others like Bulgaria and Romania which are much further down the E.U. membership queue.

Leaders of Turkey, which has not yet begun E.U. membership talks, and Switzerland, which has not applied to join, were also attending. The 12 Union members-in-waiting have a strong interest in the Nice summit proceedings and the E.U.'s efforts at institutional reform. While committed to eastward expansion, E.U. governments have long stressed that success at Nice is a precondition for enlargement.

At stake in Nice is whether the E.U. will embark on the most dramatic expansion in its 50-year history which could ultimately create a bloc stretching from the Arctic to Turkey's Middle Eastern neighbours. With days and nights of tough bargaining ahead - the summit is due to run till Sunday - E.U. leaders are hoping to finalise changes in the bloc's decision-making machinery needed to prepare for entry of the 12 candidates. "We will be successful ... there will be an agreement," said a senior German diplomat. The meeting is grappling with three main issues of contention: curbing the use of national vetoes which paralyse decision-making; reweighting votes in the bloc which currently favour smaller members; and limiting growth of the 20-member European Commission. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has called on all E.U. member states to trim their national demands in order to make the summit a success. If a deal is clinched and a Treaty of Nice is ratified by all members by the end 2002, E.U. governments have said they will be ready for expansion from January 1, 2003. But much to the disappointment of the applicants, the E.U. has firmly refused to set a formal target date for their accession to the Union. Chancellor Schroeder says setting a deadline would lead applicants to relax efforts aimed at economic and political reform.

Although setting no dates the E.U. in Nice will reaffirm its political commitment to eastward expansion. The 12 candidates countries attending the Nice meeting are: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Turkey has been told that it must step up economic reforms and speed up efforts to fulfill the political criteria for accession with particular reference human rights issues. It remains unclear when Brussels will begin membership negotiations with Ankara. Earlier this week, E.U. Foreign Ministers adopted an "accession partnership" with Turkey after Greece lifted its objections to the move. This is viewed as the first step in Turkey's long road to Europe. Last month, Greece held up approval of the deal by insisting that Ankara's E.U. membership must be made conditional on a resolution of the Cyprus question and of Greco-Turkish sovereignty disputes in the Aegean. But Greece has now accepted a new formulation which makes both issues part of an "enhanced political dialogue" between the E.U. and Turkey, not a formal criteria for accession.

Crowding the already full summit agenda is mad cow disease, or BSE. Schroeder has said he is not satisified with the E.U.'s response to the crisis which includes a six-month ban on using meat and bone meal in animal feed and the banning of all cattle aged over 30 months from the food chain if they do not test negative for BSE.

(dpa)