The Associated Press

The European Commission told EU governments Wednesday their dispute over funding the EU's long-awaited eastward expansion was undermining confidence in candidate nations that are to join in 2004.

Guenter Verheugen, the EU's enlargement commissioner, said it was unfair to assume poorer newcomers can join at no cost to current, richer members.

On Monday, EU foreign ministers put off until October a decision on how much to provide for farmers and depressed regions in Cyprus, Malta and seven East European nations. They disagreed over a commission proposal to spend 40 billion euros (35 billion dollar) on farmers and rural economies in the candidate states.

"Solidarity is now expected from us," Verheugen told the European Parliament.

"It is in our own interest to show it. Yes, the costs of enlargement should be thoroughly discussed. But, then, also the costs of non-enlargement."

He said the worst-case scenario was to abandon European unification in the home stretch.
Verheugen said the money dispute among EU governments has "created uncertainty in the candidate countries."

Verheugen held one-on-one membership talks with 12 candidate nations in Luxembourg on Monday and Tuesday. The candidates are at pains to meet a massive EU-dictated agenda of economic, monetary and legal reforms to get in shape for membership.
Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Slovakia are to join in 2004. Romania and Bulgaria may follow in 2007 and talks with Turkey - the 13th candidate - have yet to start.

Germany, the Netherlands, Britain and Sweden are not keen to extend the EU's generous regional aid and agricultural subsidies - accounting for 80 percent of the EU's 98.6 billion euro (dlrs 93 billion) 2002 budget - to the newcomers, arguing that doing so won't encourage any agricultural reforms.