BRUSSELS, October 9 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The European Commission formally recommended Wednesday, October 9, the entry of 10 countries into the European Union (E.U.) by 2004, in a historic expansion of the 15-member bloc through central Europe and the Mediterranean.

Thirteen years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the E.U.'s executive arm gave the green light for a reshaping of political Europe that will now also include a country of long troubled former Yugoslavia.

Barring last-minute hitches - including an Irish referendum later this month which in theory could derail the whole project, the new members will join in time for European parliament elections in 2004.

"The historical and political arguments in favor of enlargement are compelling," said a commission report, according to the final draft seen by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The 20-member commission approved the report, which gives detailed assessments of 13 candidate states, ahead of its presentation to the European parliament, an E.U. source said.

The report noted that two poorer Balkan countries, Romania and Bulgaria, hope to join the E.U. in 2007, but failed to give Turkey a start date for negotiations.

The 10 countries approved for E.U. membership are: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

The commission's proposals will form the basis for a political decision on E.U. enlargement expected by the end of the year.

Israel, which has been lobbying for membership in the bloc, did not feature in the E.U.'s potential candidate list.

Israel’s exclusion follows a harsh E.U. criticism of the occupying state for a massacre Monday, October 7 of 16 Palestinian civilians. A statement from the E.U. presidency condemned "the arbitrary use of extra judicial killings, which will not bring security to the Israeli people."

"There can be no justification for military actions directed indiscriminately against civilian neighborhoods, whether Palestinian or Israeli," read an E.U. statement, concluding:

"Military and violent actions only serve to fuel hatred and undermine attempts by the parties and the international community to bring about reconciliation and hope for a peaceful solution to the conflict."

"I regret and condemn very much the acts which have been committed by the Israeli army this morning," said Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, whose country currently holds the rotating E.U. presidency.

The E.U. presidency statement added that the Israeli assault came "at a time where there was hope for a resumption of political talks on implementing the recommendations of the recent Quartet meeting in New York."

E.U. leaders will meet in Brussels October 24-25 to discuss the recommendations, setting the stage for a December 12-13 summit in Copenhagen at which formal invitations will be extended.

But obstacles still remain even on the final straight of the E.U. candidate states' long and winding path towards joining the bloc.

These include notably the new Irish referendum on October 19 on the 2000 Nice Treaty, which is crucial for E.U. enlargement to go ahead in 2004.

Ireland sent shock waves through Europe in June last year when, in a first referendum, the 2000 Nice treaty on enlargement was rejected by 54 percent of voters.

"There's no plan B" if Ireland snubs the treaty again, admitted Commission spokesman Jonathan Faull Wednesday, adding that an Irish no vote would "create a situation of uncertainty, disarray."

"But I do not want to predict the unpredictable," he said.

The E.U. has pressed ahead with enlargement despite a number of nagging worries over the ability of the new countries to cope with E.U. standards - notably for lack of funds.

The cost of enlargement is a massive 40 billion euros (dollars) between 2004 and 2006, according to the commission.

Much of that cost will be channeled into overcoming major disparities between the economies of current members and the newcomers. In 2001 the average gross domestic product per head of population in the candidate countries was only half that of the current E.U. average.

Of all the costs of expansion, the financing of agriculture has posed the biggest problem for the E.U.

The bloc is already struggling to reform its own farming subsidy system, and negotiations on the issue are likely to continue down to the wire with a number of heavily agricultural candidate states.

The 10 candidates given the green light will no doubt welcome the commission's reports. Turkey is unlikely to be so pleased.

The Commission praises Ankara's recent reforms, including giving more rights to ethnic Kurds and abolishing the death penalty. But while pledging to double E.U. financial aid to Turkey by 2006, it said: "Considerable further efforts are needed."

Turkish Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel said last weekend that ties between his country and the European Union would suffer if E.U. leaders refuse this year to give a date for the start of talks.

The commission report cards on individual countries were globally positive, but included a number of black marks, notably on the issue of corruption.

The E.U.'s executive underlined that it would continue to monitor the candidates' progress up to and beyond the signature of an Accession Treaty, expected early next year.

Washington, anxious to persuade a reluctant Turkey to back its war plans for Iraq, has made it plain it wants Turkey drawn closer into the Western bloc. "We believe Turkey’s future is in Europe," said one U.S. diplomat in Brussels, the Scottish newspaper, the Scotsman reported.