Hans-Gert Pöttering, Speaker of the European Parliament.

Hans-Gert Pöttering, the speaker of the European Parliament, was quoted as saying by Finnish regional daily Aamulehti on Wednesday that Olli Rehn, the EU's Finnish enlargement commissioner, had opened his mouth at the wrong time.

Rehn had told British daily the Guardian last week that the commission would waive the multi-year accession process if Iceland decided to submit a membership application after May's general election.

Pöttering was quoted as saying that the union could not even contemplate further enlargement before the draft Lisbon treaty was ratified.

STT
Lehtikuva/AFP – Martin Bureau