Copenhagen, 13/12/2002 (Agence Europe) - The EU Heads of State and Government have fixed a rendezvous with Turkey for December 2004: if by then, the European Council judges that it has fulfilled the required political criteria, accession negotiations will begin. The Fifteen explicitly included this in the conclusions of the European Council of Copenhagen. "If in December 2004, the European Council, on the basis of a Commission report and recommendation, decides that Turkey satisfies the political criteria of Copenhagen, the European Union will begin accession negotiations with the country" state the conclusions. When will they actually start? "As soon as possible", that depends on "practical" matters, declared European Council President, Anders Fogh Rasmussen when announcing the agreement to the press at 1 a.m. Friday. For negotiations with the next ten members, less than three months elapsed between the decision to open negotiations and their actually beginning, he recalled. In its conclusions, the European Council insists on the implementation of political reforms, sine qua non for negotiations to begin, praises "the determination of the new Turkish Government" and urges it "to swiftly remedy any shortcomings that may remain regarding the political criteria, not only in the field of legislation, but also, and especially, in their implementation".
The Fifteen thus agreed to set a date for examining the situation that will be the same as the official opening of negotiations, if the result of the examination is positive. The formula is very close to the one proposed by France and Germany, which suggested an assessment in December 2004; but Paris and Berlin wanted to fix the opening of negotiations for July 2005 only. The Fifteen did not opt for that timeframe of six months, but, in practice, if Turkey succeeds its right of passage, that would amount to the same, give or take a few months, according to several European diplomats. 2013 would be a realistic date for Turkey's accession, according to what the European Commissioner for enlargement, Gunter Verheugen, had to say on the fringe of the European Council.
To what extent is Turkey's accession process linked to the resolution of the Cypriot issue? "I see no direct link between the decision on Turkey and the solution for Cyprus", the Danish Prime Minister assured the press, adding that "it would not be right thus to add another political criterion to Turkey's accession". The Turkish leaders "fully understand that the EU will take account of their relations with their neighbours, so I don't expect there to be a problem", he stipulated.
Increased assistance for prepare for membership
Mr. Rasmussen placed emphasis on the fact that "the European Union is sending a strong and positive message" to Turkey, and will "enhance" co-operation with her. The conclusions of the European Council state that "so as to help Turkey on the path to accession to the EU, the accession strategy planned for that country will be enhanced". The European Council urges the Commission to "present a proposal relating to a revised partnership for accession and intensify the examination process of the legislation". "At the same time, the EC-Turkey Customs Union should be extended and deepened. The Union will considerably increase its pre-accession financial aid to Turkey", the text continues, stating that "from 2004, this aid will be financed under the pre-accession spending budgetary heading.".
Moderate reaction from Turkish Prime Minister
Whereas the initial reactions of Turkish diplomats on Friday were rather to protest against the absence of a firm date, Prime Minister Abdullah Gul was more moderate at a press conference, regretting not having secured a date for 2003, as Turkey would have liked, but wanting to see in the decision of the Fifteen a commitment to starting negotiations in December 2004. "Our government did all it could to secure a date at Copenhagen…, we secured a date a little further away than we had hoped", he noted. For Turkey, "the European process will continue". The Turkish Prime Minister, who was speaking to the press early Friday afternoon, still wanted to believe that he could secure changes in the chapter of the conclusions relating to his country. He had just met Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder whom he tried to convince. "We shall push ahead with the reforms, that are being made for the Turkish people, not for the European Union", he added. The real test of Turkey's reaction to the European offer will be its attitude in talks relating to the EU-NATO Agreement (see below) and the Cyprus issue.