Madam, - So the European Parliament president, Hans-Gert Pöttering, has warned EU leaders that enlargement will end unless a deal is found on a new EU treaty ( The Irish Times, June 22nd). Good, I say. Let's hope a deal is not found.
I, for one, do not wish the EU to enlarge any further. Or at the very least, we need to consider very carefully what limited number of countries we wish to allow enter the EU in future. And more broadly, where is the EU going to stop? The rushed accession of Romania and Bulgaria was a mistake. Both states were admitted while serious questions remained about corruption and human rights.
Now Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine and Turkey are on the future menu of enlargement. The first two are in the Balkans, the third is a dubiously unstable democracy and the last is a Muslim state which borders Iraq.
Where is this all going to end? It seems that idealism rather than pragmatism is driving the enlargement agenda and the EU citizen's voice is being ignored. Let's have a proper debate about the future shape and composition of the EU and let's have the "enlargement junkies" listen to us.
Ad-hoc acceptance of states with serious question marks over their compatibility is no way to secure a sustainable and prosperous European Union. - Yours, etc,
TOM WARD, Monastery Road, Dublin 22.
Madam, - Stephen Collins incorrectly claims that in the recent Eurobarometer poll, 62 per cent of Irish people were in favour of the proposed European constitution.
Question 27 asked: "What is your on opinion on each of the following statements? Please tell me for each, whether you are for or against it." A list of statements was read out, for which statement 5 read: "A constitution for the European Union". Note that the question asked whether one was in favour of having a constitution. It did not ask if one was in favour of the new constitution.
Thus it is possible that some of the 62 per cent who indicated approval of having a constitution may actually oppose the wording of the current constitution. - Yours, etc,
JASON FITZHARRIS, Rivervalley, Swords, Co Dublin.