Turkije weigert speciale voorwaarden aan lidmaatschap EU (en)

On the eve of a crucial report on his country's readiness to begin membership negotiations with the EU, the Turkish foreign minister has said that special conditions should not be attached to Ankara's membership.

"It is out of the question that there are special conditions for Turkey", said Abdullah Gül on Monday (4 October) in Ankara.

His words follow newspaper reports that Brussels is considering imposing permanent emergency restrictions on the free movement of workers from Turkey to other member states in a bid to ease fears over large migrant flows.

Speaking to German television on Monday, the man responsible for the reports, Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen, said that the EU had a right "to limit and control migration at any time".

For the last round of EU enlargement in May, when 10 new member states joined, the 'old' 15 have been allowed to impose restrictions on the central and eastern Europe countries for up to seven years.

However, Turkey, which is only expected to join the EU around 2015, is on course to have the greatest population in the EU.

Currently, the vast majority of Turkish nationals in the EU is concentrated in Germany.

Tougher approach

The move on labour restrictions towards Turkey signals an overall tougher approach to be taken by Brussels towards future EU enlargements.

Countries wishing to join the EU after 2007 will have to show clear implementation of reforms required by the EU rather than just saying they intend to implement them, according to the BBC.

This is likely to make negotiations both more arduous and longer.