Mr. Prime Minister,
Mr. Dr. Adolff,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to start my presentation to the Swabian society with an expression of gratitude. After World War II, five thousand Estonian war refugees found a temporary home in the city of Geislingen in Baden-Württemberg. I laid a wreath there today. It has never been easy to receive refugees, and neither was it easy for Geislingen. Today, fifty years later, the Republic of Estonia thanks you cordially for your Samaritan charity offered in the past.

Ladies und gentlemen,

For 800 years, Estonia has been part of the German cultural space. This is very important. Estonia's capital Tallinn, or Reval in German, was a member of the Hanseatic League, as well as other Estonian cities - Tartu, Pärnu, Viljandi. The Lübeck law was in force in Estonia. Today, the Estonian civil law is very similar to that of Germany. Roman Herzog, who was the Chairman of German Constitutional Court at the time, and who later became the President of Germany, participated personally in the drafting of our Constitution. This is history. And on the whole, it is history that makes a European a European.

And yet I did not come here to convince you of the importance of historical ties. I came, instead, to speak of the future, of how we can continue to build up Europe. I would like to concentrate on three issues:

1) the economic aspect, or ''money makes money'';
2) the political aspect, or enlargement in accordance with capability;
3) guidelines for the future, both for applicant countries and member states.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Economic considerations are often given as the reason why the European Union can not enlarge at the moment, or at least why it can not be enlarged so fast. Yet I would like to assert that enlargement of the European Union is useful, and especially from the viewpoint of economy. Let me give you a simple example from Stuttgart. It concerns a company called Brokat AG, which this spring concluded an agreement with the Swedish SE-Bank for developing the latter's Internet facilities. And the SE bank is connected to Estonia, it has a share in Estonia's second largest bank, the Eesti Ühispank (the Estonian Union Bank). Thus, a company in Stuttgart is already today profiting from the fact that the Estonian banking market has developed fast in the last ten years. German companies, and therefore also the German people have profited from the economic growth in Central and Eastern Europe. We in turn have been able to develop our economies owing to the opening of new markets in the EU member states. Within the last ten years, an actual symbiosis between the current and future EU members has been taking place, and I assure you that this development would not have occurred - for either side - if the prospects of European Union enlargement had not looked realistic. The opening of European markets during the enlargement process has offered us additional sources of income, and at the same time, increased income has enabled us to buy products from Germany, Sweden, and Great Britain. You buy our goods, and we buy your products; this is a constantly upward-moving spiral.

The European Roundtable of Industrialists has compiled a whole book of examples of tangible financial profit that the enlargement process of the European Union has brought to both the present and the future member states. It is noteworthy that many investments to the candidate countries have been made considering their future as prospective European Common Market. Without this knowledge, many investments would never have been made. If they had never been made, we would not have had as much money in our pockets as we already have today. And if we did not have the money, we would be unable to buy your goods. The economic aspect of the enlargement, ladies and gentlemen, is as simple as that.

Let me briefly also speak of investments. Estonia is one of the most attractive countries for foreign investors in Central Europe - we have constantly been among the first two or three, and in 1999, only the Czech Republic had received more per capita investments than Estonia. According to the latest World Investment Report, the cumulative direct investments to Estonia constituted 35.6 per cent of the GDP in 1998; this is not only the highest number in Central and Eastern Europe, but also twice as high as the European Union average. This shows that Estonia attracts investments. And yet Germany's share in the total amount of investments is less than three per cent. Three per cent, ladies and gentlemen! This is an incredibly small sum for a country as large as this. I do hope that we will be able to enlarge Germany's share and that my current visit to Stuttgart will help us to reach this goal.

Let us now return to the themes of my presentation, namely to the second issue, or the political aspect.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Europe is what we make of it. To make anything, there must be will. I have heard and read many sceptical comments saying that future member states would be a threat to the present accomplishments. The enlargement would make it impossible to develop strong co-operation mechanisms, and therefore, it is necessary to rush to the final phase of European integration, the so-called finalité politique, or at least to set down the guidelines for getting there. With new member states, it would allegedly be impossible. I read these comments in amazement. What, in the opinion of these commentators, could be our purpose in acceding to the European Union? To disintegrate it? When acceding to an organisation, it is not our purpose to disintegrate or it, or to make it weaker!

In fact, the reality is quite the opposite. Estonia's accession to the European Union will bring to the EU a country that will work hand in hand with those who wish the European Union to remain strong and to develop. Ladies and gentlemen, we wish to accede to the European Union for the very reasons why you wish to maintain and promote it. We wish to accede precisely because the European Union means a new quality in the European co-operation, because the European Union is a strong political organisation and has the prospects to become even stronger.

At the same time, it is obvious that the prospect of enlargement has already added new dynamics to the European Union. The fact that the internal reforms of the EU are currently being discussed in order to facilitate the decision-making mechanisms, is a direct result of the forthcoming enlargement. The serious discussion of internal reforms that would be useful to the European Union also without future enlargement, has been activated under the pressure of forthcoming enlargement. So that also in this respect, as in my example concerning the economy, the forthcoming enlargement has yielded positive results already today. In fact, if we look back at the history of European Union, we can see that each new stage of enlargement has provided the necessary impulse for implementing inevitable reforms, which would have needed to be carried out in any case.

Now to my third issue. How to proceed?

Ladies and gentlemen,

In order to forge these positive impulses into a continuous dynamic development, both in the field of economy and in the field of politics, it is necessary to ensure that also the next enlargement of the EU would be painless, or at least as painless as possible. There are two preconditions for this: on the one hand, the readiness of the candidate countries to implement and to complete thorough structural reforms in order to be prepared for the accession to the internal market of Europe. On the other hand, there must also be the readiness of the member states to accept the candidate states in accordance with their readiness to join.

Estonia has never claimed or presumed that the acceptance requirements should be extenuated. We understand that the European Union is much more than a common cultural space. The European Union is also the European internal market, it is a complicated mechanism, and to join it, every new member must be ready to fulfil the requirements. We understand this and work hard to reach this goal. I assure you that harmonisation of laws is constantly on our Government's agenda, and that all boards or agencies in the administrative areas of all ministries are reforming their structures to be able to meet the demands of internal market. We have invested a lot in the environment, in the social sphere, in the border guard, so that our rules and your rules, our requirements and your requirements, would be the same. Speaking of the social sphere, I am proud to inform you that Estonia is so far the only candidate country, who has finalised the discussion of the social and labour policy chapter on the EU association negotiations. And as for the border guard, I assure you that the Estonian border guard is one of the best in Europe. If you don't believe me, ask the Finns, our neighbours. We are working hard so that on January 1, 2003, Estonia would be ready to accede to the European Union.

What we expect from Germany and other EU member states is readiness to accept the candidates in accordance with their readiness to join. Not because of our common cultural heritage, although this is certainly the very basis of the enlargement, but because a certain country is actually able to meet the requirements of the European Union. If the enlargement wants to be a success, it must take place according to the principle of individuality, so that ''those who are ready, can come in''. Germany and the other member countries have confirmed that it is their goal to open the doors of the European Union by the end of 2002, and this corresponds to Estonia's views on the matter.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The enlargement of the European Union is a great opportunity for us all. It means the restoration of cultural and economic space that has existed in Europe for centuries. At the same time, it means a new opportunity for the European Union. Even now, we must admit that the forthcoming enlargement has had a positive impact both on the economy of Europe and the political development of the European Union. Economically and politically strong European Union is our common interest, as we are in the same boat.

Enlargement is the motive force that sets the wheels of Europe to motion.

Thank you for your attention.

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