Brussels, 21/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - Two weeks before the European Commission is due to give its recommendation on the opening of accession negotiations with Turkey, warnings and calls for prudence abound from MEPs who are against Ankara's entering the EU, but also among some of those in favour. I am in favour of accession, "but not at any price", said the President of the Socialist Group, Martin Schulz, in a statement bearing the title: "no reforms, no negotiations". There is no way we can envisage the opening of negotiations unless the reform process for the Turkish penal code opens, said the German Social Democrat, denouncing torture and the criminalisation of adultery.
The President of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, Elmar Brok, said that discussions of recent days on the law on adultery were "staged" (by proponents of accession, to show that under pressure, Turkey would adopt reforms). It would be strange if such an important reform was carried through just a few days before the Commission's report is presented, the CDU MEP told a few journalists on Tuesday, adding: who will stand guarantor that these reforms will be swiftly throughout the country? Because the concrete implementation of reforms is a necessary condition for accession negotiations to begin, said Mr Brok (referring to the example of Slovakia). For this reason, the EU's decision on whether to open negotiations should be postponed for three or four years because, he warned, "it is worth keeping a close eye on what happens" over there (among the information of concern to him, the report that the wives of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister are said to be the "driving force" behind complaints against the wearing of the veil). When asked about the role of Günter Verheugen, Mr Brok noted: as an extremely successful Enlargement Commissioner, he has acquired a certain "standing, but this kind of standing can be lost too". I hope there will be no political pressure from Berlin or elsewhere, he said. Mr Brok, who pointed out that the Oostlander report of May 2003 was in favour of opening negotiations only when the European Constitution had entered into force, voiced another concern: we are told that Turkey will only benefit later or partially from structural funds, but this would be a "bad model", and the beginning of a "patchwork Europe".
At the same session, Renate Sommer (CDU, vice-president of the delegation for relations with Turkey) added: the Turks complain that they are discriminated against and criticise us for interfering, but if they negotiate their accession they will soon see that the EU does get involved in its Member States' affairs, and they will have to give up a fair chunk of sovereignty. They want to negotiate by their own rules, she complained.
If we negotiate Turkey's accession, we will have to do the same with Ukraine, warned Elmar Brok, noting: representatives of the Ukrainian government have asked me what arguments I could advance, in such a situation, against opening talks with them. Georgia, too, aims to join the EU, but "then the EU would be at an end", he fears. We should offer Turkey, and other so-called "new neighbours" the prospects for closer bonds in the form of participation in the single market, said Mr Brok, who pointed out that the inclusion of Austria, Finland and Sweden in the European Economic Area later allowed for short accession negotiations. He also commented that those who claim that negotiations with Turkey will last 10-15 years do so to "reassure the public".