Gesprekken tussen EU en Turkije worden in juni voortgezet (en)
Brussels may open two new chapters in EU membership talks with Turkey in June - on company law and intellectual property rights - but the bloc continues to call on Ankara to push ahead with more reforms.
"If technical preparations continue well, we may be able to open two new chapters," during an EU-Turkey accession conference on 17 June, Janez Lenarcic, European affairs minister of EU presidency country Slovenia, was quoted as saying by Forbes news agency on Wednesday (21 May).
On Wednesday, the EU also made it clear that Turkey is responsible for the pace of further negotiations.
"Progress made in legal and democratic reforms and especially their implementation," is what will determine how fast the talks will go, EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said during a Wednesday debate on Turkey in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Turkey started accession talks in 2005 and has so far opened six out of the 35 negotiation chapters that have to be finalised before it becomes an EU member.
Eight chapters have been frozen due to Ankara's refusal to open its ports to EU state Cyprus, as it does not recognise the Greek government in the southern part of the divided island - at the same time, it is the only country to recognise its northern Turkish section.
In April, EU commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said that the issue was "the main obstacle for significant progress in Turkey's accession process."
Brussels also wants Ankara to limit the power of the military which still exercises "considerable political influence," to effectively implement reforms on freedom of the speech, and to improve the protection of minority rights.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament on Wednesday approved a resolution on Turkey's progress towards the EU in 2007 by a large majority - 467 MEPs voted in favour, 62 against and 61 abstained. The resolution praised progress so far but urged the country to do a lot more.
Dutch Christian Democrat MEP Ria Oomen-Ruijten in charge of the dossier called this a "strong signal" to Turkey, but urged Ankara to continue with reforms.
"2008 must be the year of reforms. The Turkish Government must make use of its strong parliamentary majority to resolutely pursue further reforms that are crucial to Turkey's transformation into a modern, democratic and prosperous society," Ms Oomen-Ruijten said.
"Further delays will seriously affect the pace of negotiations," she added.