On Thursday 17 and Friday 18 March, MEPs from the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee and members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly discussed the state of play of Turkey’s EU accession negotiations, cooperation on the crisis in Ukraine and trade issues.
“We discussed frankly and openly past and present differences and issues, our mutual expectations. We also talked about rule of law, human rights and non-discrimination standards”, said EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee co-chair Sergey Lagodinsky (Greens/EFA, Germany).
“Turkey is ready to follow EU standards. It is doing its part, especially in the context of Russian aggression. It is time for us to be closer”, said his Turkish counterpart, İsmail Emrah Karayel.
Furthermore, Sergey Lagodinsky also insisted on the need to resolve certain issues, such as the “democratic deficit” and the “tensions in the Mediterranean” with Cyprus, in order to obtain “a strong majority and support from Parliament”.
His Turkish counterpart, İsmail Emrah Karayel, said that an “update” of the EU-Turkey customs union would be “a good starting point” for “a new era in relations” between the two sides, conceding at the same time that this would have to be subject to “certain conditionalities”.
Beyond the issues of accession, trade and the war in Ukraine - which were widely discussed - the two co-chairs of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee reiterated their commitment to developing greater cooperation in certain areas such as the fight against climate change.
The next meeting of the committee responsible is expected to take place in the course of 2022. “As soon as possible”, the two co-chairs jointly declared. The last meeting took place three years ago. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)