EU ministers debate the vision of grander future: Meetings expected to hammer out terms for enlargement of the Union, but obstacles remain over health and agriculture

THE European Union will today try to clear away most of the remaining obstacles to admitting new members. With pressure also building up for closer relations with Central and Eastern Europe, the vision of a wider and more inclusive bloc is finally starting to take shape.

EU foreign ministers yesterday were fighting against a negotiating deadline of 1 March to conclude entry talks with Sweden, Finland, Austria and Norway. It is hoped that today, in meetings with their counterparts from these countries, some of the toughest negotiating dossiers can be closed.

Spain raised a new obstacle to the process, saying that it wanted to ensure that the entry of the new members did not make a difference to whether or not the EU agreed a single currency in 1997. It wants to prevent a situation where the more economically robust member states go ahead with monetary union, leaving others in the slow lane.

Today the ministers hope to finalise negotiations in two areas. There are four dossiers associated with the Maastricht treaty - monetary union, foreign policy, internal affairs and other provisions - where it is hoped that talks can be brought to a close.

There are also some remaining problems over environmental and health standards when the four join the single market. The Nordic countries - especially Sweden and Norway - want to make sure that in areas where the EU does not have legislation, they can continue to uphold higher standards than those which prevail in other member states. The Mediterranean countries fear this will discriminate against their exports.

At the other end of the scale, a problem could arise over the Swedish passion for 'wet snuff' - a form of tobacco sold in plugs which are tucked between lip and gum and sucked. Wet snuff is banned in the EU after being implicated in oral cancers, but is at least as popular as cigarettes in Sweden.

The biggest issue in the negotiations is likely to be the sensitive question of regional and agricultural policy. With each of the four trying to promote Arctic or Alpine farmers, the EU will try to keep subsidies within limits. The only country not affected is Sweden, which has already begun reforming its agriculture to bring prices into line with the rest of Europe.

The negotiations must be concluded by 1 March to enable them to be cleared by the European Parliament this year. They would then be put to referendums in each country. Entry would, it is hoped, be concluded by 1 January 1995 for most of the countries.

Public opinion is still solidly against the EU in Norway, where a referendum in 1972 split the country. Norwegian diplomats say that the Norwegian referendum will probably follow the others, in the hope that public opinion will be swayed by fears of isolation.

The EU and the countries of the European Free Trade Area - the four, plus Iceland - will next year create the European Economic Area, the world's largest trading block. Switzerland was due to enter, but rejected the deal.

Membership of the EU has implications that go well beyond trade ties, and it is these problems that are being thrashed out in Brussels. Spain's move is likely to be a negotiating ploy rather than an attempt to put off enlargement definitively.

European officials say that the timetable will be tough, but still hold out hopes that membership can be sorted out in time for 1995. Still to confront are some of the toughest issues, such as how much the four would contribute to the EU budget. The EU's poorer states, conscious of the wealth of the accession four, are expecting a pay-out. But with recessions, unemployment and crises in their welfare systems, the four are not keen to face a fresh bill. Sweden has already raised the question of a British-style rebate.

The next stage in the EU's expansion is already opening up, with a British-Italian paper for tighter links with Central and Eastern Europe on the table yesterday. This proposes that the countries with which the EU has an association agreement be involved more closely in two areas: foreign and security policy, and home and justice affairs.

This initiative is in line with proposals at both Nato and the Western European Union, the EU's putative defence arm, to involve the Central and Eastern European countries. Though membership of all three bodies is some years off, the search for closer ties now is intended to fill a security vacuum and prepare the way for enlargement.

There are constant reminders in Brussels of how difficult it will be to build a new relationship with the countries to the East. The political obstacles - a reluctance to antagonise Russia, and a desire to keep the Western clubs cohesive - are likely to become more important. But the main problems between the Union and Eastern Europe are still economic. Mediterranean EU members fear low-cost competition from Eastern Europe.

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