Brussels, 13/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - The EU/Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee has suggested an information campaign on Turkey's EU membership. In a declaration adopted at their meeting on 6/7 April in Turkey (MEPs and Turkish MPs) they call for the European and Turkish authorities to explore "possible ways of launching an effective public information campaign to help prepare EU and Turkish public opinion for the prospect of opening accession negotiations, as well as the opportunities and obligations of EU membership". MEPs and Turkish MPs are basing their appeal on the idea that one of "the key objectives of the pre-accession strategies should be to improve awareness between EU and Turkish citizens".
The conclusions of the 52nd Joint Parliamentary Committee highlight progress made by Turkey and underline the importance of implementing reforms. They also draw the attention of the European authorities to the difficulty Turkish citizens have obtaining a visa to enter the Schengen area, and therefore call to ease the procedure for students, researchers and businessmen.