Patten: "Europese Unie van 25 lidstaten kan niet veel meer uitbreiden"

External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten has warned that the European Union will be almost "full" after the next round of enlargement which will see the number of member states rise to 25.

Speaking on the UK's Radio 4 over the weekend (27 December), Mr Patten said there must be a line where the EU ends and that line had almost been reached.

Next May, ten countries, mainly from Central and Eastern Europe, will join the bloc - the biggest enlargement at one time in the Union's history.

"There is a sense that at 25 or 30 the EU is going to be difficult to run. At much more than that, well nigh impossible", said the UK Commissioner.

"There must be a line somewhere where the EU ends. We have almost got to the line".

Failed talks

Mr Patten's comments come just a short two weeks after EU talks between the 25 current and future member states on a European Constitution collapsed in bitter acrimony.

The failed talks illustrated the difficulty of getting so many different countries to agree an issue and have sparked much analysis about how an enlarged Europe will function.

Next year is also set to see much debate on whether Turkey will eventually become a member of the EU. Formally a candidate, it has yet to start accession negotiations but EU leaders have said that at the end of 2004 they will take a decision on whether Ankara has met the political criteria for starting membership talks.

After 2004, the next round of enlargement will be in 2007 when Bulgaria and Romania are set to join.