Finland ziet geen uitweg meer voor geschil met Turkije over Cyprus (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Talks between the EU and Turkey on how to solve the Cyprus impasse have broken down without agreement on Monday morning (27 November).

The Finnish EU presidency said it does not believe it can broker a solution on the issue during its presidency of the EU.

Following a meeting with his counterparts from Cyprus and Turkey, Finnish foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja said "unfortunately, we have come to the conclusion that at this stage circumstances do not permit that an agreement could be reached during the Finnish Presidency."

"There will be consequences," he said adding "business as usual cannot continue."

Ankara had been given until early next week to allow trade with EU member state Cyprus - a key obligation under an EU-Turkey customs agreement - with the European Commission expected to recommend on 6 December what the consequences of Turkey's non-compliance will be.

"The Presidency will immediately, together with the Commission, start preparing the handling of the continuation of Turkey's EU accession negotiations," a Finnish presidency statement said.

According to the presidency, EU foreign ministers meeting on 11 December should then decide what steps to take.

The Finnish presidency of the EU runs out at the end of the year and Helsinki has been engaged in a strong behind-the-scenes diplomatic drive to try and get a compromise agreed that would see EU membership talks with Ankara stay on track.

They reached an impasse earlier this year when Turkey said it would not normalise relations with EU member Cyprus until the EU honours a promise to end the economic isolation of the Turkish-controlled northern part of the island.

The whole issue has reached a critical point now because member states last year said Turkey must move on the Cyprus issue by the end of 2006.

All parties are hemmed in with Turkey facing parliamentary elections next year making it hard to make concessions. Several EU member states, including the largest, do not want to let the issue slide without repercussions while the commission itself wants to keep the talks on track.

In a bid to get things moving, Finland last week laid down an ultimatum saying it was not willing to let the issue take over the agenda of an EU leaders meeting on 14-15 December.

It called on the commission to issue recommendations about what to do if Turkey does not back down on the Cyprus issue at the beginning of December.

Reacting to the news on Monday, a commission spokeswoman said the failure of Finnish diplomacy is "unfortunate" while refusing to "speculate" on the content of the commission's 6 December recommendation.

In an 8 November report on Ankara's progress towards the EU, the commission avoided saying what should be done if there is no movement on the Cyprus issue.