| dc.description.abstract | In October 1999, following the February 1999 update of the Commission’s opinion onMalta’s application for membership, the Commission issued its first Regular Report onMalta’s progress towards accession with a view to the Helsinki European Council.In its2001 Enlargement Strategy Paper, which accompanied the 2001 Regular Reports, theCommission indicated that, given the pace of negotiations and the progress made so far,the Commission should be able to make recommendations on those candidate countriesready for accession on the basis of its 2002 Regular Reports. At its meeting in Seville inJune 2002, the European Council concluded that “in order to enable the EuropeanCouncil to be held in the coming autumn to decide which will be the candidate countrieswith which negotiations can be concluded at the end of 2002, [...] the Commission willhave to draft appropriate recommendations in the light of the Regular Reports.” TheCommission has prepared this series of Regular Reports with a view to the BrusselsEuropean Council in October 2002. |
