Brussels, 30/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan asserted on Wednesday (after the Commission had proposed its negotiating brief) that his country had “the resolve and the capacity” to join the EU. “It is clear that the negotiating process will be difficult, but Turkey has the resolve and the ability to confront this long process without running away from the difficulties”, he said. After the negative reaction of the CDU/CSU at the European Parliament (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.4), the Socialist Group at the EP welcomed the “rigorous” nature of the negotiation mandate. By 3 October, the PES will make its own assessment of Turkey's compliance with the criteria set by the EU for opening talks, Jan Marinus Wiersma of the Netherlands said. The Greens at the EP welcomed the Commission's determination to launch talks on 3 October. “This is an important signal for continuing reforms in Turkey”, Joost Langendijk of the Netherlands added. British Liberal member Andrew Duff also welcomed the Commission's mandate and rejected the CDU/CSU German proposal of a “preferential partnership” for Turkey. The negotiating framework suggested by the Commission will allow monitoring of Turkey's compliance with the accession criteria, which are “tough but fair”.