Monsieur l'ambassadeur,
Mesdames et messieurs,

D'abord je veux remercier l'ambassadeur Subrenat pour nous avoir invités. Ca nous offre un bon moment non seulement pour vous remercier pour la Présidence française, mais aussi pour être ensemble, entre amis, quelques jours avant noel.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

From an Estonian point of view the last half year during the French presidency was successful. We have moved forward in our homework that we need to do before we can join the European Union. As you all know this is not always an easy task. But we can look with satisfaction at this year's achievements which were duly noted in the Commission's Progress Report. The Commission also noted shortcomings in several areas and we will continue working on these matters to make sure that we keep on track with our membership plans.

The Nice European Council opened the way to enlargement, as it was intended to do, and this is why we regard the outcome of the summit as a success not only for France, but also for Estonia and for Europe. We all know that there have been many critical newspaper articles about the results of Nice. Many journalists, analysts - and indeed a number of politicians - have said that Nice did not achieve what it should have, that only the bare minimum was agreed and that the way the summit ended - in a very energetic exchange of words - does not bode well for Europe. But my answer to this criticism is that after all politics is the art of the possible. We have to be satisfied with the outcome of the Nice summit quite simply because that was what was possible to achieve at that particular time. The European Union is based on an idealistic idea, but it has always been built with real means, and that is also the way it will continue to be.

We now look forward to proceeding with our accession negotiations during the Swedish presidency. The Presidency Conclusions of the Nice European Council state that the time has come to lend fresh impetus to the enlargement process. They also say that those candidates that are better prepared should continue to be able to progress more quickly than others who are less ready. This is an important signal and we expect that its transformation into practice will mean a considerable speeding up of our negotiations during the next half year. I am encouraged by the positive spirit in Stockholm and I firmly believe that with good will and an energetic approach prevailing on all sides we can achieve the goal of Estonia becoming a member of the European Union on the first of January 2003.

Thus I would like to raise my glass - to the European Union, to the French and to the coming Swedish presidency, but more importantly to the friendship between our countries and our peoples and to wish us all a peaceful and happy Christmas.

Thank you.

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