The European Union's most dramatic enlargement will move forward today when the ten members-in-waiting sign their accession treaties at the Acropolis in Greece.
Membership for the accession countries - Cyprus, theCzech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia - will come in May 2004.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, will join other European heads of state for the ceremony which will be preceded by talks on progress on a new draft new European treaty being drawn up at the Convention on the Future of Europe.
This issue was pushed off the agenda for last month's European Council in Brussels by the need to find common ground on Iraq.
Also before the signing ceremony, the 15 current EUleaders are likely to discuss states' roles in rebuilding post-Saddam Iraq.
More than 10,000 policemen will be deployed to protect the 220 officials, including UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who are attending the signing ceremony.
Prime ministers Tony Blair of Britain, Jose Maria Aznar of Spain and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy - all backers of the war in Iraq - are expected to be the main targets of leftist and trade union protesters.
