Voorwaarden EU-lidmaatschap lijken moeilijk haalbaar voor Turkije (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU and Turkish politicians and experts seem increasingly prepared to admit that it will be impossible for Turkey to meet the EU's political criteria before the end of the year.

During a debate organised yesterday (23 June) by the European Policy Centre and Turkish NGO, the ARI Movement, it emerged that within both EU political and research circles, as well as from the Turkish side, the belief in full Turkish compliance with EU democracy and human rights criteria is lacking.

Formally, the fulfilment of the EU's democracy and human rights standards is a precondition for Ankara to start accession talks with the EU.

EU leaders will decide in December whether or not to start formal accession negotiations on the basis of a crucial report by the European Commission to be released in October.

However, many believe the process has gone far and it would be counterproductive to reject Turkey now.

Dutch foreign minister Bernard Bot underlined the importance of the political criteria yesterday stating that the political criteria "are the sole measuring stick that should be applied" to Turkey.

Getting the green light anyway?

But Murat Mercan, Turkey's representative at the Council of Europe said, during the debate, "don't expect us to solve all our problems before December" but went on to stress the "incredible" reforms achieved by his country.

Selcan Yilmaz, a board member of the ARI movement, a civil society group, stated: "The countries which acceded to the EU on 1 May did not comply fully with EU standards either. They acceded nevertheless".

But the Dutch Green MEP, Joost Lagendijk, urged the Turks to be even more open about this scenario.

"It will be impossible for Turkey to comply 100% with the EU's political criteria. That will not happen before the end of the year. Turkish politicians should drop their claim that Turkey will fully comply".

Civil-military relations

Similarly, the German researcher Heinz Kramer, working for the prestigious Berlin thinktank Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, said that in the field of civil-military relations particularly, Turkey still had a long way to go.

"The way the military intervened in the recent debate on university reform shows that Turkey is still far from having reached EU standards when it comes to civil-military relations".

But he pleaded for a "non-static approach" with regard to the EU's political criteria - meaning that accession talks should be opened as soon as possible even if the criteria were not fully met.

"Turkey has made tremendous progress in political reforms in the last few years, which has significantly affected the political and social reality on the ground. If the EU does not give the green light for accession talks in December, this will produce serious backlashes for pro-reform forces in the country."

No holiday for the Turks

"Small political circles in Turkey believe that the EU uses double standards towards us. As much as I disagree with these voices, they could be strengthened if we were treated unfairly", said Ms Yilmaz.

However, the Turks will keep working hard to keep the reform process going, said Mr Mercan: "There will be no holiday for us this summer until - probably - we will get a date."