Deutsche Presse-Agentur
December 15, 2004, Wednesday
13:49:44 Central European Time

ROUNDUP: E.U. Parliament votes for Turkish entry, nixes plan ‘B’Eds:
epa photos including 00330317 available

Brussels

The European Parliament on Wednesday voted with a big majority for
Turkey’s entry into the European Union and firmly rejected demands
that Ankara should instead be offered a special relationship. The
vote is not legally binding on European Union (E.U.) leaders who are
meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to decide whether and when to
open entry talks with Turkey. But the opinion of the bloc’s only
democratically elected body sends a strong signal of support for
Ankara ahead of the E.U. summit. A total of 407 E.U. lawmakers voted
in favour of Turkey’s membership of the Union, with 262 voting
against accession. The E.U. assembly counts 732 members but not all
deputies participated in the ballot. Reflecting the political
sensitivity of an issue which continues to divide Europeans, some
parts of the resolution on Turkey were voted in by “secret ballot”.
Those asking for such an option said they wanted to “vote freely
according to their conscience,” said Parliament president Josep
Borrell. Members of the parliament’s conservative European People’s
Party were split on how to vote, with the party’s group leader
Hans-Gert Poettering saying he favoured negotiations on a privileged
partnership with Turkey but others backing full accession.
Poettering’s stance reflects the hardline stance taken by the
conservative opposition in Germany which mainly rejects allowing
Turkey to join the E.U. Turks, numbering about 2.4 million in
Germany, comprise the country’s biggest minority. However, socialist
deputies, representing the second largest group in the assembly,
voted in favour of opening talks with Turkey as did most members of
the Liberal Democrat and green groups. “The European Parliament has
given its full support for opening negotiations without undue delay
… we have fully rejected plan ‘B’,” Borrell told reporters. Plan
“B” is generally taken to be an E.U. offer of second class membership
to Ankara, something the Turkish government rejects. Borrell
cautioned, however, that the E.U. assembly had set key conditions
that Turkey would have to meet during the accession talks. These
include more efforts to upgrade the rights of the Kurdish minority
and recognition of the killing of Christian Armenians between 1915
and 1923 as genocide. But the Armenian issue was “not a new
prerequisite” for starting negotiations with Turkey, just a
recognition of historic events, he said. The assembly chief said
Turkey and the E.U. would have to work harder to get to know each
other, adding: “We are all victims of stereotyping and historical
prejudices.” Borrell will be giving E.U. leaders the Parliament’s
message on Dec. 17, the second day of the bloc’s summit. Camiel
Eurlings, a conservative Dutch member of the Parliament who drew up
the report on Turkish accession approved by the assembly, lauded
Ankara’s efforts at reform. But he warned that the Parliament would
continue to exert pressure on Ankara on human rights issues, the
emancipation of women and religious freedoms. “There must be no
torture,” he underlined. European Commission president Jose Manuel
Durao Barroso, is also pressing for the start of negotiations with
Ankara. “This is the time to say yes to opening negotiations with
Turkey, which has made an enormous effort” to meet E.U. criteria,
Barroso said. Barroso said he opposed offering Ankara a watered-down
version of membership, adding: “That would not be fair to the Turks.”
E.U. leaders on Thursday face tough discussions on Turkey, with
France, Austria and Denmark still insisting that the final summit
statement must refer to the fall-back option of a “special
relationship” if membership talks fail. This is strongly opposed by
the leaders of Germany, Britain, Spain and Italy, however. Turkey
will also be asked to recognise (Greek) Cyprus but this will may be
done through Ankara’s extension of its current customs union
arrangement with the E.U. to all ten new members which joined the
bloc in May this year. Turkey has so far refused to do this. If E.U.
leaders do agree to start talks, negotiations are expected to open in
October 2005, once France and other E.U. states have held their
national referendums on the bloc’s new constitution. The process is
expected to be difficult and last 10 to 15 years. The Commission
which will be conducting the talks has said it will keep a vigilant
eye on Turkish reform efforts during this period to ensure there is
no slippage. The two-day summit will be chaired by Dutch Prime
Minister Jan Peter Balkenende whose country holds the current E.U.
presidency. dpa si lm sc