Denmark today welcomed the leaders of the 13 countries queuing up to join the European Union to explain to them the details of a funding package for enlargement agreed at an EU summit.
The financing deal clinched by the EU last Friday opens the way for the final phase of negotiations with 10 of the candidate countries hoping to join the wealthy bloc in 2004.
"This is the beginning of the end of negotiations. They (the candidates) can be glad," Danish Foreign Minister Mr Per Stig Moeller told reporters as he arrived to brief the candidates.
The venue for the four-hour meeting with the candidates was the Foreign Ministry of Denmark, which holds the EU's rotating presidency. A news conference was planned for 1.30 this afternoon.
At their summit in Brussels, the EU leaders endorsed Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus and Malta as ready to complete the accession talks in December and to join in 2004.
Under the funding deal, farmers from the candidate states will receive direct payments from the day they join but will only reach the same level as existing members after a decade.
The candidates will be guaranteed not to be worse off after joining than before, with compensation to be paid if necessary.
The EU agreed to offer €23 billion in regional aid for the first three years - less than a proposal from the European Commission of €25.5 billion but more than Germany, the biggest net contributor to the EU budget, had wanted.
The EU deal only became possible after France and Germany agreed to cap the growth in total EU farm spending after 2006 at one percent a year until 2013.
At their summit, the EU pledged to support the efforts of laggard candidates Bulgaria and Romania to join the EU in 2007.
It also praised the reforms of the 13th candidate, Turkey, but stopped short of offering a date for accession talks.
Turkey has yet to open accession negotiations due to continued concerns about its human rights record.