Podobnik Points to the Importance of Treating EU Candidates on Their Own Merit

Brussels, 30 November - Speaker of the Slovene Parliament Janez Podobnik hailed the plans to start membership talks with all candidates, stressing the importance of treating each candidate on its own merit. Podobnik attended on Tuesday a meeting of his counterparts from 12 EU candidates with President of the European Parliament Nicole Fontaine. The Slovene speaker also said that the procedures leading to the ratification of accession accords in parliaments of the EU member nations and in the European Parliament should start separately for each next candidate.