The European Union does not have the capacity to take in any more member states

Rhiannon Edward:

THE European Union does not have the capacity to take in any more member states, Dominique de Villepin, the French prime minister, said yesterday.

"The European Union today has neither the institutions adapted to an increased number of member states, nor the necessary operational rules to progress quickly on the most important subjects," Mr de Villepin told the French lower house of parliament.

Allowing the western Balkan nation of Macedonia to start entry talks could be considered only in the framework of a "controlled and conditioned process", the prime minister added.

A summit of EU leaders starting tomorrow is expected to endorse a recommendation to grant Macedonia candidate status, but not give a start date for entry talks, according to EU officials.

France and others are hesitant to give the green light to Macedonia amid continuing divisions over EU financing and growing opposition to European integration and expansion.

"We need a debate on future expansion," Philippe Douste-Blazy, the foreign minister, told reporters in Brussels on Monday. He argued the bloc, which took in ten more nations last year, could barely cope under its current operating rules.

Mr de Villepin, in an apparent reference to the French vote against the European constitution in a referendum in May, said European citizens had not always understood recent enlargement moves.

"The French too often have the feeling of having stepped into an irreversible process of continuous enlargement. We must hear this concern," he said.

He said the French would be consulted by referendum on any future enlargement of the bloc.

Macedonia faces possible EU delay