Dette betyder imidlertid, at Den Europæiske Union skal påtage sig et stort ansvar, og jeg er desværre nødt til at påpege, at skønt alle medlemmernes betænkninger om de enkelte landes optagelsesegnethed taler om de betingelser, som landene skal opfylde, overser man den kendsgerning, at også Den Europæiske Union, det vil sige de nuværende 15 medlemsstater, har nogle forpligtelser at opfylde i den samme proces.
However, this means that the European Union has many responsibilities to live up to, and I am sorry to have to stress that although all the reports by our colleagues on the eligibility of the various countries, one by one, speak of the conditions to be fulfilled by those countries, there is no mention of the fact that the European Union itself has obligations in the same parallel process, in other words the present 15 Member States must also fulfil their own obligations.