Brussels, 26/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Commissioner responsible for Enlargement, Gunter Verheugen, welcomed on Monday the National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis (NPAA), which the Turkish Government adopted last week (see EUROPE of 21 March, p.3). "This programme is an important landmark in Turkey's preparation for EU membership and the first stage in a far reaching programme of political reform. It is a starting point for the fundamental transformation of Turkey into a modern democracy, stated Mr Verheugen to the press following a meeting, on Monday in Brussels, with the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ismail Cem. Mr Verheugen announced that the Commission would examine in detail the NPAA and that it could only give a detailed answer after this in-depth analysis. As with the other candidate countries, the Commission will discuss with the Turkish authorities the content of the NPAA in the various sub-committee existing in the framework of the EU/Turkey Association Agreement.
In a more general manner, the Commission can already say at this stage that this programme sets out for the first time the very large scale of reforms that Turkey is willing to address in all areas - political economic and in relation to the alignment of Turkish legislation with the EU acquis, added Mr Verheugen. As for the political accession criteria, "a preliminary analysis suggests that further efforts will be required in areas such as the abolition of the death penalty and ensuring cultural rights for all citizens irrespective of their origin". Moreover, other important issues for the two parties will have to be discussed in the framework of the political dialogue, he said. Mr Verheugen underlined the evident desire of the Turkish government to progress in the respect of the accession criteria. "The Commission welcomes the different legal initiatives, which Turkey plans to take in order to meet conditions for EU membership, as well as the fact that a significant number of commitments have been made. There fulfilment will take Turkey further along the road towards EU membership, he stated while launching a call on the Turkish authorities for them to accelerate the implementation of the reforms. "It is important that Turkey's legislative programme and the necessary reform of its institutions go ahead as soon as possible so that it may advance rapidly in its preparation for EU membership. But it is for Turkey to decide on the pace of the reform process", said Mr Verheugen. According to him, these preparations will also have a positive effect on the stability and economic growth of the country and will reinforce in the economy the measures already taken by the government to resolve the present economic difficulties.