Reuters, UK
June 29 2005

EU Commission seeks membership for Turkey
Wed Jun 29, 2005 3:24 PM BST

By Sebastian Alison

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The EU’s executive Commission reaffirmed on
Wednesday that it aims to bring Turkey into the 25-nation bloc,
but not before 2014, adopting a draft mandate to start negotiations
despite fierce internal and public debate.

“The negotiations will be based on Turkey’s own merits and the pace
will depend on Turkey’s progress in meeting the requirements for
membership,” said a draft negotiating mandate adopted on Wednesday
as the basis for accession talks.

“The shared objective of the negotiations is accession.”

The negotiations are scheduled to start on October 3, as agreed last
December by EU leaders, provided the bloc’s 25 foreign ministers
unanimously approve the mandate by then.

The document states that negotiations for Turkish European Union
membership can only be concluded from 2014, after the bloc’s next
long-term budget which runs from 2007 to 2013.

Growing public scepticism about Turkey’s bid, especially in western
Europe, was reflected in a tough political debate inside the 25-member
EU executive on the terms and timing of the “negotiating framework”.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn was more than two hours late
for a news conference to announce that the Commission had adopted the
mandate and told reporters: “We had a lengthy, argumentative and also
very political debate.

Some Commissioners had argued the mandate should contain wording
allowing for Turkey to be granted only a “privileged partnership”
with the EU rather then membership, he said, although in the end no
such language was included.

“STICK TO OUR WORD”

Commission sources said Luxembourg’s commissioner, Viviane Reding, had
led a small group arguing against full membership and had questioned
the need to adopt a mandate now.

She was backed to a lesser extent by Charlie McCreevy of Ireland,
Benita Ferrero-Waldner of Austria and Jan Figel of Slovakia, the
sources said.

But Rehn prevailed, noting that EU leaders had reaffirmed unanimously
their commitment to accession talks at a summit just two weeks ago,
after the French and Dutch referendums rejecting the EU constitution,
in which hostility to Turkish membership was a factor.

“The European Union has made commitments to Turkey … We stick to
our word,” he said. “Europe needs a stable democratic and prosperous
Turkey. It is in our own strategic interests.”

However, he said he fully expected an impassioned public debate
about Turkey in which the issue of full membership versus “privileged
partnership” would be aired for years to come.

The Commission called on EU governments to launch a debate on Turkey’s
relationship with Europe.

A growing number of centre-right leaders in western Europe,
including the likely next German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and a
top presidential contender in France, Nicolas Sarkozy, oppose Turkish
entry and favour the “privileged partnership” option.

But Britain, which takes over the EU’s rotating presidency on Friday
for six months and will chair the start of accession talks, is a
staunch advocate of Turkish membership.

Commissioner Peter Mandelson led the pro-Turkey camp in the Commission
debate, the sources said.

Rehn called the negotiating framework “rigorous,” and highlighted its
demands that Turkey develops better relations with its neighbours —
notably Cyprus, divided since 1974 into Greek and Turkish Cypriot
communities, and Armenia, with which it has no diplomatic relations
and a sealed border.

He said Turkey had been working constructively to improve ties with
Cyprus, although more needed to be done with the eventual aim of
reunifying the island.

“So far we have not succeeded. I don’t take any sides on this issue,
I work for a solution,” he said, adding that he would emphasise
Cyprus in the Commission’s next regular report on Turkey’s progress
to membership, due on November 9.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress