EU Sweats Blood to Agree on Turkey ‘s Negotiations ‘Road Map’
By Senem Caglayan
The New Anatolian, Turkey
June 30 2005
The New Anatolian / Brussels
The document is expected to draw criticism from Turkey for three main
reasons. The first is the projected length of the EU negotiations,
which signal long, difficult, and exhausting talks. The second is
that the document puts forward issues that Turkey thought would be
disregarded. The document also makes reference to dialogue between
EU communities, which Turkey considers unjust
While Ankara is relieved that no reference is made to ‘privileged
partnership’ in lieu of full membership, it also finds cause for
concern: for the first time ever, a negotiations road map explicitly
mentions that the talks are ‘open ended’
The European Union Commission worked hard to reach an agreement
yesterday on the negotiations “road map” for Turkey , adding meat to
last year’s decision that Ankara ‘s negotiations for full membership
will begin on Oct. 3.
Following a lengthy, comprehensive, and constructive discussion in the
EU Commission, an agreement was reached. According to the framework
document, the aim of the negotiations is Turkey ‘s full membership
in the EU, but full membership will not be realized before 2014.
The main issues in the document are as follows:
– Turkey will begin negotiations on Oct. 3.
– Turkey ‘s full membership will not be realized before 2014.
– The success of negotiations depends on fulfillment of
responsibilities and the application of reforms by Turkey .
The length of the negotiations sent a red flag to Turkish observers,
since it signalled that that its talks could well be long, difficult
and exhausting.
Main aim is full membership
EU Commissioner Responsible for Enlargement Olli Rehn said that the
negotiations will begin on Oct. 3 with the aim of full membership,
but added that the success of the negotiations depends on Turkey
‘s fulfillment of its responsibilities.
Rehn made the remarks during a press conference held after the
discussions. “I think the EU states will approve the ‘road map’ on
Oct. 3 because they had previously determined the main issues of the
document in the June and December [2004] EU summits,” he added.
“The negotiation process is as important as the consequence. But the
negotiations will be long and difficult,” he said.
Rehn’s first remarks will probably be evaluated as a positive
decision by the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, but the
main opposition party is expected to criticize the decision, claiming
that the negotiations will go nowhere.
Negotiations will be open-ended
The road map stated that negotiations will be open-ended, a statement
that again caused concern in the Turkish government, since this is the
first time such a statement has appeared in such a “road map” document.
Concerning the issue, Rehn said that entry talks with Turkey don’t
guarantee membership, adding that all the negotiations are open-ended
in nature. “The beginning of negotiations on Oct. 3 aims at giving
Turkey a fair chance for EU membership.”
Meanwhile, the document makes no reference to proposals for “privileged
partnership” in lieu of full membership, a development that brought
relief to Turkey .
Concerning the privileged partnership issue, Rehn said that this issue
was discussed during the EU Commission’s meeting since some EU states
support this status for Turkey , but no reference was made to it in
the document.
Talks could be suspended in case of emergency
The negotiations road map also said that negotiations with Turkey could
be suspended in the case of an emergency. In this article, emergency
refers to the serious violation of human rights or violations of the
rule of law.
The suspension of membership talks with Turkey could only be brought
about by a proposal from the EU Commission or by the approval of
one-third of the EU member states.
Therefore, Turkey sees the the prospect of suspension as distant,
since it considers attaining such a majority within the EU impossible.
Even if talks fail, Turkey ‘s roots with EU should be strengthened
Rehn stressed the importance of the total fulfillment of Turkey
‘s responsibilities and the implementation of reforms necessary for
Turkey to become a full EU member state. He added that even if the
negotiations fail, Turkey ‘s roots with European structures should
be strengthened.
This statement in the document was also a cause for concern for Turkey
, since it seems to aim at making Turkey somehow dependent on Europe .
EU urges Turkey to sign Ankara Protocol, normalize ties with Greek
Cyprus
The document also calls on Turkey to sign the Ankara Protocol, which
would extend the Customs Union agreement to the 10 new members of
the EU, including the Greek Cypriot administration.
Olli Rehn said that he expects Turkey to sign the protocol this summer
before beginning negotiations on Oct. 3.
The document also urged Turkey to further normalize relations with the
Greek Cypriot administration and to continue its constructive manner,
in order to find a permanent solution for Cyprus .
Rehn described Turkey ‘s manner so far as “very constructive” during
his speech.
Meanwhile, the road map document also urges Turkey to open its seaports
to Greek Cypriot ships.
Road map refers to border disputes
The road map document also made a reference to Turkey ‘s border
disputes and urges Ankara to solve all such disputes, and to attain
good neighborly relations.
Rehn also touched on this issue during his speech, saying, “The EU
expects Turkey to respect the EU’s good neighborhood relations and
to obey the United Nations’ rules.”
This statement will probably attract criticism from Turkey , which
has ongoing border disputes with Armenia .
Budget concerns
The document also stated that the EU should approve the budget for
the period that follows the 2007-2013 period when Turkey could become
a member.
On this issue, Rehn said that the capacity for EU members’ acceptance
is determined by the EU budget, and the budget crisis threatens the
enlargement process. “The European financial perspective and its
associations should be strengthened in order to solve future troubles.”
This statement is also critical for Turkey because it’s apparent
that if EU members fail to agree on the EU’s future budget, this will
directly affect Turkey ‘s membership.
Rehn: Civil dialogue will be established between EU citizens
Rehn said that a civil dialogue will be established between the EU’s
citizens, and this dialogue will also include the citizens of the
candidate states.
Following the recent rejection of the proposed EU constitution
by French and Dutch voters, Rehn’s statement will probably catch
the attention of concerned circles since it aims to integrate and
unite all EU communities in order to prevent a possible future EU
constitution crisis, which might also affect Turkey ‘s membership.
But making a reference in the document to dialogue between EU
communities also might bring criticism, since Turkey thinks that it’s
unjust to refer to dialogue in a document that concerns negotiations
with Turkey.