Brussels, 22/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - The 50th EU-Turkey Association Council, held on Friday 22 June, did not result in any substantial breakthrough on membership talks. Although Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner Stefan Füle welcomed the fact that the Council of the EU had, on Thursday 21 June, opened talks on the future visa-free regime for Turkish citizens (see EUROPE 10639), “substantial progress is needed” in the fields of freedom of expression and religious freedom, “in law and in practice”, in order to take the membership process forward, he warned, speaking at a press conference in Brussels on Friday 22 June.
Out of the 35 chapters to be covered, only 13 have now been opened and one has been provisionally closed. Three new chapters may soon be opened, but no date has been given for this, not helped by the fact that the Turkish government has decided not to cooperate with the Cypriot Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers (during the second half of 2012). Reforms initiated by Ankara in its justice system and civilian control of Turkish security forces were nonetheless welcomed as “important developments” at the Association Council.
The turbulent relations between Turkey and Cyprus could also be an obstacle in talks on visa liberalisation. Although several countries have put up resistance to this process (e.g. Germany, Austria and the Netherlands), it is the opposition voiced by Cyprus that could be determining.
When asked how long it would be before Turkish citizens can hope to travel to the EU without a visa, the Turkish minister for European affairs, Egemen Bagis, replied, on Friday 22 June in Brussels, that he hoped talks would not take more than three years, as was the case for other states who are now members of the EU. Commissioner Füle did not wish to give a precise amount of time. He did, however, say: “It will not happen tomorrow. What is important is that we have stopped talking about it and we have started to work towards delivering the visa free regime to the Turkish residents”. (JK/transl.jl)