EU doet voorzichtige handreiking naar Turkije (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission is set to let Turkey move a step closer to the EU by approving the negotiations framework, on which it will base membership negotiations with the country, next Wednesday (29 June).

The framework for negotiations constitutes the main guiding principles on which EU negotiations with a country are started.

After the Commission approves the draft on Turkey, member states are to take over the question, during the meeting of EU foreign ministers in July or September, EU commissioner in charge of enlargement Olli Rehn i told the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee on Tuesday (21 June).

The document is "a common position of the EU", Mr Rehn's spokesperson told the EUobserver adding "The European Commission presents all the documents, but takes no decision whatsoever".

This means that member states could still add provisos to the document making it difficult to open negotiations.

Once the draft is approved, the EU will have taken all the technical steps it has to take ahead of the launch of EU negotiations with Turkey, due on 3 October.

From the Turkish side, the six pieces of legislation requested by the EU were approved and brought into force on 1 June.

Ankara now has to sign the protocol extending a customs agreement it has with the EU to the ten new member states, including Cyprus, which Turkey has not yet officially recognised as a state.

But the Turkish government has committed itself to signing the agreement, and, if it does, will have done everything requested by the EU in order to start membership negotiations on time.

If the member states approve the negotiations framework, and Turkey signs the customs agreement, there will be no reason to postpone the launch of EU talks, commissioner Rehn's spokesperson said.

However, there is no legal obligation to start them on 3 October, but only a strong political commitment to do so, she told journalists earlier this week.

Giving Turkey "a fair chance"

Turkey sent its candidature for EU membership in 1987, and it was officially accepted by the EU in December 1999, during an EU summit in Helsinki. Turkey has been a candidate country since.

If it starts negotiations in October, they will probably still take some 10-15 years to be finalised, but starting them on time would be of great symbolic importance.

After French and Dutch voters rejected the EU Constitution three weeks ago, and fear that Europe was growing too rapdily was cited as one of the reasons, many were quick to call for a halt in the enlargement process.

Speaking to MEPs from the foreign affairs committee, Mr Rehn reiterated that enlargement should go on, as it has brought security and stability in Europe.

"Let us recall that we have major responsibilities in ensuring security and stability on our own continent and further afield. We cannot take a sabbatical from these responsibilities without causing serious damage", he said.

He also put into perspective the French and Dutch No votes, saying that it was exaggerated to say that the voters, in France particularly, said No to the Constitution to actually say No to Turkey.

"The socio-economic factors were quoted by more than half of the respondents [in France]_ Turkey was quoted [as a No argument] by only six to 22 percent of the respondents", he said.

The commissioner urged Turkey to improve its relations with neighbouring Armenia, saying "Turkey has difficulties to tackle the historical truth", to make more progress as regards minority rights, freedom of the press, and in general to maintain the speed of reforms.

He acknowledged many shortcomings could be observed in the country, and many things were still to be improved, but insisted that as far as "no major shortcomings" in implementing the rule of law and respecting human rights could be observed, "we have to give Turkey a fair chance".

Mr Rehn expressed hope that the British presidency of the EU, to start on 1 July, would do its best to launch the negotiations on time, as the UK is one of the supporters of Turkish EU membership.

Aiming at reassuring Croatia, another candidate country, Mr Rehn stressed that Zagreb would start EU talks as soon as full cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague becomes fact.

Slovakia ratifies accession treaties

And while Commissioner Rehn was pleading for enlargement to go on as planned, Slovakia became the first country to ratify the Bulgarian and Romanian EU accession treaty.

The Slovak parliament ratified the document with 102 votes in favour, two abstentions, and no votes against.

The two Balkan countries signed the accession treaty last April and all 25 EU members must now ratify the document in order for it to come into force.