Complete agreement has been reached in Copenhagen on the historic enlargement of the European Union.
The final obstacle, a financial package for Poland, was overcome a short time ago.
The German Chancellor announced earlier that European Union leaders had reached a deal to give Poland more cash to ensure that enlargement goes ahead.
Speaking after a brief meeting with the Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller, Gerhard Schroeder said Poland would be allowed to convert €1bn of long-term EU aid into a cashflow facility.
Mr Schroeder said this would give Poland immediate extra money to help its strained budget without increasing the overall amount it will eventually receive.
The other nine leading EU candidates would be offered up to €300m in extra aid.
Poland has been holding out for a bigger financial package on farm subsidies.
The Danish presidency has been holding talks with individual candidate countries who, it is hoped, will finally be invited to join the EU in May 2004.
Turkey slams EU enlargement delays
The Turkish Prime Minister, Abdullah Gul, has said the EU's decision not to give a start date for membership talks until at least December 2004 is unacceptable. However, he said Turkey continues to want to be a member of the EU.
EU leaders at the summit in Copenhagen said they would decide in two years' time whether to start membership talks with Turkey after evaluating its progress on democratic reforms.
Turkey had fought an aggressive campaign to have a start date next year.
Washington had also been pressing strongly for Turkey's entry into the European Union to be sped up. The US sees Turkey as a critical strategic ally in any future plans for an attack on Iraq.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen told the US President that he would submit the Danish EU presidency's proposal regarding Turkey to his EU colleagues at the summit dinner on Thursday.
