 very much and very glad to be here this afternoon. I understand that this is also a very important moment for the country and I really hope that everything will move in the best possible direction. When it comes to the enlargement process and when I was asked to do this job I was asking myself whether it was a good offer that had been made or it was a sort of in-poison gift. I still believe that it was a good offer but it is true that I would say that enlargement has turned into a relatively difficult sale in the last few years. There are a number of elements that need to be reconciled in this context and the first one is how to keep the process credible and the perspective of enlargement real for the countries covered by the process itself but at the same time we need to take into account the orientations of our public opinion and the fact that it has become less and less popular the idea of enlarging further the European Union especially since the beginning of the crisis. It is also and this is another difficult element to reconcile the expectations of the candidates or the potential candidates because they would like to join to join soon rapidly without difficulties but at the same time the process has turned into a much more complex one compared with it used to be in the past. So in a nutshell the difficulty is really in trying to reconcile the ambition of the enlargement process and to move the enlargement agenda forward with the reality on the ground both in our member states and in the countries covered by the process itself. If we want to compare the present process with the fifth enlargement, the one that was covering the countries of central and eastern Europe, there are a number of substantial differences. In quality I would say first of all because essentially during the fifth enlargement the countries were asked to formally adopt the AQI but there was no time left to check whether this was implemented properly. While now the process is much more focused not only on the legal framework but on the capacity of the countries to implement it on what we call the track record which is a way of making sure that the process is reversible and it's not going to change. But also in quantitative terms there are some substantial changes. A number of new chapters have been added and not certainly the easiest ones. I'm referring in particular to what in Gereguna the chapter 23 and 24, chapter 23 covers the judiciary and fundamental freedoms and when it comes to fundamental freedoms it means freedom of expression, freedom of the press, rights of minority, Roma, LGTB population, so a number of quite complicated issues in even in the countries of the EU and certainly in the countries of the region covered by the enlargement process. And chapter 24 is the chapter on justice, liberty and security which are all the conditions that need to be met in order for the countries to join the Schengen process. So you, I mean it's two chapters but are very substantial and have an impact in substantial impact in the process. Another aspect that is looked at much more carefully compared with the past enlargement is the reform of public administration. And here again this is a very important point, the depolitization of the process, merit based, no ad hoc vacancies, so it's a quite huge road to go. And last but not least we are requesting the countries to develop institutions that are able to manage effectively the European funds. So essentially we want to make it sure that once they join the countries have the institute, the proper institutional setting for managing social, regional or agricultural funds and to get ready for this process. And this is implication in terms of corruption, fight against corruption which is linked with that but also auditing systems, auditing mechanisms that are quite significant. To be honest with you I don't think that it is a negative development. I mean I'm not complaining about this. I think that the idea of having the countries ready for the enlargement and for becoming member of the union and taking up the responsibilities of membership is certainly important and positive development. What worries me a little bit more is the fact that there is a trend to advance the requests. So while I have an understanding that this criteria must be fulfilled at the moment when the negotiations evolve substantially my preoccupation is that when we start asking too many things even before the process starts because this is creating a sense especially in the potential candidates or in the candidates a sense that we are creating new obstacles that are making their life much more difficult and complicated. And right or wrong the perception is there and stays. Still let's say looking at the horizontal issues before going to more to a sort of analysis country by country. The last element that I would like to underline is the fact that the process has become much less linear than it used to be in the past. During the fifth enlargement there was a sort of political decision. There were a number of countries or groups of countries that were more or less homogeneous with the same kind of problems and with the same kind of expectations. Now we have a situation where the enlargement process applies to Turkey, to Iceland and to the western Balkans that are really three different entities and within the western Balkans there are very different realities also from the not only from the political but also from the ethnic point of view. So there is a certain differentiation that needs to be made and that's why we are moving towards a process that is no longer sort of one size fits all but much more into a sort of tailor made approach where for each country we are trying to identify the best modalities to make it sure that the countries can move towards the goal of the negotiations and can benefit from the process itself. Turning to the countries, essentially for the moment the process is applicable to nine countries. I will start with the champion Croatia that has successfully completed the negotiations last year and is supposed to join in July 2013. It's a very, the process is moving in a very constructive and positive way. The European Council has asked the commission to monitor the process. There were specifically two areas where we need to give our attention. In particular one is the area for the cluster of rule of law, the reform of the judiciary, the fight against corruption where I think that Croatia has managed to show and prove that it's not afraid of going even on a very tough line. I was mentioning during this morning that in the Balkans there is a word that has been created that is Sanaderizazia after the arrest of the former prime minister in Croatia. But this means that really the feeling is that there are no sanctuaries and no fear to touch even the most delicate issues and most delicate elements of the state. So we are having this monitoring exercise. We have issued the first report in April which was constructive positive. It was also true that it was covering the period which was very complicated politically for Croatia. It was during the elections period, so the change of government and the creation of the administration. But in spite of that there was some significant progress being made and now we expect in the second report in October and we are confident we could have very positive results in that context. The other country, I'd say quite advanced in the negotiating process at this stage, is Iceland. We have opened already 15 chapters out of 35. 10 have been provisionally closed already. We are planning to open hopefully four more chapters before the end of the Danish presidency and to have another substantial number during the Cyprus presidency. I would say that for me the main challenge in the negotiations with Iceland remains in the fishery sector. I'm trying to simplify there are many other smaller aspects that are complicated and needs to be taken into account but fisheries is the area which is more sensitive for the European Union and for Iceland. So very much will be decided around the negotiations on the fishery sector and the negotiation is made more complex by the fact that the European Union is reforming the fishery policy and the Icelanders are reforming the fishery policy. So we are negotiating on the basis of variable of moving targets and this is not making life easy and the perspective of the parliamentary elections in 2013 in Iceland are an element which is further complicating the picture. But on the more positive side is the fact that the administration is very good, is very well motivated and we are working together very well in order to see how to best address these issues and I'd be glad to come back on that and understand that in Ireland you have a keen interest to understand how the fishery negotiation is going to develop. Before moving to the western Balkans a few words on Turkey which is I would say one of the most difficult negotiations that we are facing now. The relations between the EU and Turkey are characterized by a sort of I would say mirroring schizophrenic attitude. Turkey represents for Europe a particularly important partner, a key strategic partner from all points of view, economic, commercial, political and foreign policy I mean it's self-evident. But I would say and but when it comes to the decision to move from let's say the level of strategic partnership into that of joining the same club then things become more complicated. I have to say that there is a sort of mirroring situation in Turkey and I mean what was valid for Europe is valid also for Turkey. I mean I have to say that the more than 60 percent of the Turkish trade is with European Union, more than 80 percent of the foreign direct investments in Turkey are coming from European Union. So I mean there is a bulk of let's say commonality between Turkey and the EU that is difficult to be underestimated. The customs union has created a lot of this kind of interdependence. But then Turkey is now I would say also producing these elements of possible alternatives that Europe is not the only possible way forward. Northern Africa, Middle East, Central Asia are very often mentioned. Again I think that the interconnections are such that it's difficult to imagine how we can disentangle these two realities and the fact that energy is turning into a hub for the energy distribution from Middle East and Central Asia into Europe is making this point even more let's say stronger. In order to avoid this sort of difficult situation or at least to see if we could manage to change some of the variables of these equations we have devised a new approach in relations with between European Union and Turkey which we have tried to summarize in what we have called and baptized as the positive agenda. In order to say to move away from the blame game about the lack of implementation of the entire protocol of our European Union lack of agreement on the trade agreement for Northern Cyprus. The positive agenda has two I would say two elements. One is to how to manage the areas of disagreement which is already a quite relevant point. I mean if we can manage to have a way of dealing with it in a more constructive feature but on the other side we would like to shift more into the positive aspects of our relation and try to identify a number of areas where we can work together more constructively. Energy is one of those and there is already a dialogue which I started some weeks ago. We will on 17th of May commission will have a kickoff meeting on the overall process of approximation of legislation so we will start working on a number of areas that have been stacked and blocked for some time in the council and that includes also the areas of the judiciary and fundamental freedoms which I think is very relevant and very important at this stage in Turkey. And the other part which is also very relevant and for Turkey is visa liberalization where a political agreement has already been reached in the council and has to be now translated into a proper dialogue and into concrete actions that we will follow and that should lead let's say over time to a full visa liberalization. It's not me but I mean the one of the first things that the first message is coming from from Turkey after the elections in France the presidential election in France is that can we open some of the chapters that can be blocked by France. So we will I'm just saying this as a sort of of joke but it's there is also an expectations that there could be a sort of new attitude in within the European Union. Let me move to the western Balkans and I have taken Croatia out of it because I think that at the end of the day Croatia is a sort of completion of the central European enlargement process more than a western Balkans right this is a country between the two but now the how to say the game starts with the with the other countries. First on the list for me is Montenegro. Montenegro has been given a very clear task last year we were we had identified the number of key priorities that they need to look after reform area which were very relevant public administration, judiciary, fight against corruption, fight against organized crime, fundamental freedoms they have done a remarkable job in during this period a really remarkable job. The new government led by Prime Minister Luksić has been truly committed to the European cause and to the European perspective and they have turned the European agenda into a national agenda so it has really permeated the political decisions of the country and still is the case and they have done this with flexibility with intelligence and with speed. There are limits to what can be done in a year that's true and so we cannot imagine that the results are that's especially when it comes to track record and to the establishment of track record results are over ambitious but they have done a very serious job and I think that they deserve to be given the possibility of opening the negotiations as a hope and as I expect to happen at the end of June as it had been let's say foreseen in the conclusions of European Council in December. Macedonia you know that Macedonia has been it's now in the third year in a role that we have suggested and proposed the council to open the negotiations this has always been been blocked. We have launched in order to see how we could overcome the difficulties and the problems of the relations with Macedonia we have launched what we have defined in high level accession dialogue. We started in March it was this dialogue is coached by the prime minister of Macedonia and the commissioner for enlargement. We have had in another session just last week at the beginning of May and there will be a third round in September and in the meantime we'll have a number of technical missions in June and July. The dialogue is focused I mean Macedonia has done always quite well in the adoption of the Aki. They have been quite let's say efficient in the area of the adoption of the Aki but they have been a little bit more problematic in some areas like freedom of expression and you may remember last year there were a few problematic aspects in the holding of the elections the OSEOD was complaining about the number of elements of the of the elections in the area of the fight against corruption and in the functioning of the market so what we in Zagun call it the functioning market economy status. So we have taken exactly these areas the complicated ones and we have turned into a sort of open dialogue with the with the Macedonians and I have to say that the experiment is really giving some very good results. They and as underlined they have come up with specific targets to be achieved in these areas. They have defined an action plan with 140 measures that they have undertaken to to complete by September. I think that it's a it's a very bold move. It provides a change of perspective in in Macedonia and in the relations of Macedonia with the European Union and it's something that will need to be followed up and followed closely to see if which is kind of results can produce in the future. But in that case too we see the European agenda becoming a national agenda and let's say absorbing in a constructive way the energies of the political parties and of the civil society in Macedonia. Third on the list and don't be surprised is Albania. Albania has gone through a very difficult period last year between June and November. There was a real how to say confrontation between the government and opposition and a very let's say unhealthy situation I would say from the point of view of the normal functioning of the institutions. The opposition was not taking part in the voting in in parliament and was the fact of blocking a number of laws which were requiring a three-fifth majority. The government was playing hard ball when it was coming to a number of important elements in the elections and in the dealings with the with some independent institutions so there was a difficult situation. After a let's say many efforts being done and a little bit of also help and support on our side in November last year the Albanians have managed government opposition to find an agreement which was based on three main aspects an agreement to complete the electoral reform on changing the rules of procedure of the parliament amending the rules of procedure of the parliaments and unblocking the vote on the laws requiring a three-fifth majority. This has worked I mean essentially most of this package has been implemented and I was particularly happy to see that all political leaders president prime ministers leader of the opposition president of the parliament everybody joined in celebrating the europe day in tirana which it's a good signal from all points of view. The next challenge that Albania has to face is the election of the president of the republic. We will see I mean for the moment what we see that is the at least is calm and we'll have to it's an indirect election so it's the parliament which is doing this but the process that will be leading to the election will be the most important and so far so good we will understand more in the coming months. They are continuing also in the reform process and they have come up with an action plan which was very convincing in order to implement the different elements of reform that are needed to be implemented. If a fifth if all the things fall in the right place we believe that Albania should be given a real chance and to be given a real chance to get the candidate status it's too early to say it now but if the trend will continue in a constructive way it will be a real possibility. I will try to go a little bit more rapidly for the other countries not because they are less relevant but because there are more variable elements that are difficult to define at this stage. Serbia was provided was given granted the candidate status in March then the electoral process started we are still I would say not in the middle of it but towards the end parliamentary and presidential elections have been called the parliamentary elections have given let's say majority to the present coalition that they supposed to continue. We will see after the 20th of May who will be the president and if the pro-European majority will be confirmed we hope that there will be also more clear stand let's say taken on two main issues that are relevant for us. One is Northern Kosovo and I would say the normalizations of the relations with Kosovo but again normalization relations Kosovo go through the solution of the Northern Kosovo issue and there is a positive and encouraging signal in the fact that President Tadic has presented a sort of plan the so-called four points where he's ruling out the possibility of partition of Kosovo and is working only on the idea of the defense of the interest of the Serbs living in Kosovo. The other aspect that will need to be taken into account is the reform process that I'll say in this last few months has been let's put it this way less result oriented than we would have expected but with the new government and the new ministers in place we hope that this can can change. Bosnia-Zegovina I suppose that I can say very little because you have gotten you have had Ambassador Serns and just a few weeks ago here and he has given you a much let's say an insight of the of the situation what I would like to say is that the atmosphere in in Bosnia-Zegovina is much more constructive in the last few months I would say since the beginning of the year more or less this has led to the formation of the government which I would say was a real problem for many months and to the adoption of a number of key laws including the stated law and the census laws which were very very relevant we are now encouraging them to work on the adaptation of the constitutions that are needed to adjust the constitution to the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights both for the election of the president and the election of the representative in the House of People. Still problematic because when it comes to changing the constitution and then the the Bosniaks are a little bit more reluctant to move forward. The other problem that we are experiencing it's a very important one is the need for Bosnia-Zegovina to be able to speak with one voice when it comes to the relations with the European Union. I can negotiate with the counterpart that I cannot negotiate with 10 canton's two entities one state level in a separate setting I mean it's they have to be able to find a way of and they can do whatever they want they can change the constitution they can pass a law they can even do nothing and just having a sort of political agreement but there is a need to find a way of creating the conditions for being able to speak with one voice with European Union. We will try to help them in that we have agreed now to have the high level consultations on the 27th of June in Brussels we have invited the three presidents I mean the three members of the presidency the three prime ministers of the state level and of the 20s and the six leaders of the political parties in the countries in the country in order to see if we can manage to move forward. So working progress I would say final word on Kosovo. I would say that in March this year has been a real breakthrough in the relations between the European Union and Kosovo. The decisions of the council to give a mandate to the commission for a feasibility study for a stabilization association agreement is really a sort of breaking news to be honest because this is the basis of the possible contractual relation between Kosovo and the EU. We are not yet there it's a challenge from all points of view it's a challenge also for Kosovo as in telling the constituents the study will assess the feasibility so your capacity to do this kind of work so it will be a challenge also for the administration but have to say that the Kosovo administration when put in front of the clear challenge has also been able to respond very positively as it has been the case for the roadmap for visa liberalization. Visa liberalization will also be an important another important feature of the work that we are doing together and in this context we are launching a dialogue on rule of law that will start at the end of May 30 where we hope to be able to let's say highlight and identify together with them a number of areas where substantial work is needed and to end on a more positive even more positive note is the fact that my understanding that there is an agreement to have Kosovo join the EBRD let's say in September that's the that's the expectation. The north I have already spoken about it coming speaking about Serbia is an element that needs to be dealt as well. I've spoken a lot more than I expected have been longer than the 25 minutes just to say that for the Irish presidency it will be a I mean the semester will be extremely important because we are having a sort of cycle by which the prop we presented the progress report in October the council adopts some conclusions in December and then the following months and months of the implementation of this so it will be essentially that's during the the presidency the Irish presidency that is also true that we have broken a little bit the scheme of dealing with enlargement only in December and it may be and it will may be that if the rays are occurring in Albania Macedonia or Serbia the Irish presidency will be called to play an even more relevant role in in these areas and same goes for Iceland the elections will fall during the period of the presidency and same goes for Turkey because your presidency will follow that of Cyprus and that will be the moment when essentially the relations between the EU and Turkey will need probably to be re energised. Ambassador we'll stop there I won't try to make conclusions and I'm looking forward to the debate. Thank you very much indeed Director General