Fru formand, med stor tilfredshed har vi fra Kommissionen erfaret, at der gøres gode fremskridt ved optakten til forhandlingerne med ansøgerlandene om tiltrædelse til Den Europæiske Union. ###>Madam President, we were very pleased to hear from the Commission that good progress has been made in the run-up to the negotiations with the applicant countries on accession to the European Union.