Brussels, 24/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - The Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel believes that the European Commission should carry out an impact study into the consequences of Turkey's accession to the European Union. Mr Schüssel, who was speaking in Vienna on Tuesday at the opening of the EPP-ED group's workshop, that such a study is vital, "if a serious decision is to be taken" on the possibility of opening accession negotiations with Turkey in December.
Having stressed the need to "lead from the front" in the accession negotiations with Romania and Bulgaria, and to "encourage" Croatia's request for membership, the Chancellor spoke more cautiously about Turkey. In order to "test the various options available to us", the Commission should analyse the consequences of Turkey's accession in all fields (economic, social, foreign and security policy, etc), explained Mr Schüssel. He has therefore proposed that the Parliament's EPP-ED group call upon the Commission to carry out this impact study, which would be justified by Turkey's size, said an EPP-ED source, in order to present "several options" for future EU-Turkey relations. The EPP-ED has often spoken of a reinforced partnership between the EU and Turkey, but Turkey has always refused (last time during the visit of Angela Merkel, CDU President, to Ankara), as it feels the country would gain from this status.
During the debate, the Finn Ari Vatanen said that Turkey's accession would send out a positive signal to the Muslim world. Slovene Alois Peterlee said that "more should be done to encourage Croatia" to join. Several MEPs also asked the Chancellor about the prospects for accession for other countries, such as Ukraine. Answering, Mr Schüssel said that he was "perfectly convinced" of the need to do more for Croatia. "We are offering it the prospect of membership", he promised, adding that this would be "a positive signal for Bosnia-Herzegovina and the other countries of the Balkans". The EU should "pause for thought" before planning any further enlargements, said Mr Schüssel, because "we can't recreate the OSCE".