Newport, 02/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - The foreign ministers of the EU, meeting informally in Newport, reached a "broad agreement" on the main elements to feature in the "counter-declaration" which the EU intends to adopt in the next few days in reaction to the unilateral declaration made by Turkey on 29 July on its non-recognition of Cyprus, the president of the Council, Jack Straw, has announced to the press. He also stressed that the timetable for the opening of accession negotiations as laid down by the European Council of December 2004 (and confirmed in June 2005) had not been called into question by any of the delegations, and that the UK Presidency was therefore "reasonably confident" that talks could kick off on 3 October. " Given the atmosphere today (...), I am reasonably optimistic", he told the press. This sentiment was shared by the Cypriot minister George Iacovou, who said on Friday: "I am able to tell you that I'm optimistic (about the fact) that negotiations with Turkey will be able to start on 3 October (...). I have never said that we would use our veto. We have never opposed the opening of negotiations with Turkey".
On the European counter-declaration, according to Mr Straw, the ministers "broadly, but not unanimously", supported the proposal of the UK Presidency, which contains the following eight elements: -the EU welcomes the signature by Turkey of the additional protocol to the agreement on customs union, but regrets that Turkey felt it necessary to make a unilateral statement at the same time on its non-recognition of Cyprus; - the EU stresses that the Turkish declaration is unilateral and that it is therefore not part of the protocol, and that it will therefore have no impact on Turkey's obligations under the same protocol; - the EU expects full, non-discriminatory implementation of the Additional Protocol, with the removal of all obstacles to the free movement of goods (provided for by the customs union), including restrictions relating to transport. Turkey must apply the protocol fully to all Member States, including Cyprus. The EU will monitor this closely and evaluate full implementation in 2006. The Commissioner for enlargement, Olli Rehn, told the press that Turkey would "certainly" have to open up its ports and airports to Cypriot ships and aircraft. The EU is "extremely concerned" by this issue, and the full implementation of the protocol is a "red line" for the EU, he said. "Let's have a fair game. I have worked hard to get the Member States to respect their commitments to Turkey [with respect to the opening of negotiations]. Now I expect Turkey to fulfil its commitments" taken within the framework of the protocol. On Thursday, the Turkish Minister for foreign affairs, Abdullah Gül, speaking in Ankara (before leaving for Newport, where he took part in Friday's meeting), said that his country had no intention of opening up its ports and airports to Cypriot ships and aircraft. "Ports and airports come under the heading of the services sector; it is incumbent only on full members of the EU to open these up", he said; -the EU recalls that as long as Turkey has not fulfilled its contractual obligations with the EU, negotiations on the relevant technical chapters (free movement of goods, transport, etc) cannot be opened; - the EU recalls that the republic of Cyprus, which is a Member State, is the only Cypriot entity recognised by international law; -the EU stresses the importance it attaches to the de jure normalisation of relations between Turkey and all the Member States, "as soon as can be achieved"; -the EU takes note of Turkey's commitment to support the efforts of the Secretary General of the United Nations to bring a global and negotiated solution to the problem of the division of Cyprus. In the view of the EU, only a just and lasting settlement can help contribute towards peace, stability and harmonious relations between the countries of the region; -the EU will follow all elements mentioned in the previous points very carefully and re-examine its position in 2006. The finishing touches remain to be put to the definitive text of the declaration and, "with a bit of luck", it will be adopted next week by the ambassadors of the Member States (Coreper), said Mr Straw.
Cyprus and Greece would like to make a few changes to the proposal by the UK Presidency, although the Cypriot minister described Thursday's discussions as "highly satisfactory". "Although it has been improved considerably and now constitutes a basis for future negotiations, the new proposal by the Presidency still requires a few more changes", said the spokesperson to the Greek Ministry for foreign affairs on Thursday. The Greek Minister for foreign affairs, Petros Molyviatis, and his Cypriot counterpart George Iacovou also called for the discussions to continue within Coreper in Brussels. The Greek and Cypriot proposal "was accepted and the text will be discussed once more on 7 September in Brussels by the permanent representatives" of the 25, said the spokesperson to the Greek minister. "Greece, together with the Cypriot government and other partners, will try to get the necessary changes agreed to", he added. Nicosia is calling for Turkey to normalise its relations with the republic of Cyprus "in the very near future", Mr Iacovou stressed. France is not 100% satisfied with the draft text, particularly with regard to its recognition of Cyprus, but it "has no wishes to open a European crisis" on the subject, the French Minister for foreign affairs Philippe Douste-Blazy told the press, implying that France is likely to be able to accept the draft text. However, he reiterated that the Turkish declaration of 29 July posed "serious problems" for France. "Turkey must clarify its position and give all necessary guarantees to the EU. When a country wants to join a Community, it is entirely normal to expect it to recognise all the members of that Community (...). Why not purely and simply ask for recognition?", he said. "It has to be said that Turkey must show us just how much faith we can have on its willingness to join the European Union and to respect all its commitments", Mr Douste-Blazy added.
The other element required in order to open negotiations, which is the negotiation framework (recently proposed by the Commission), has still to be formally approved by the Council before 3 October, but this issue was not raised by the ministers in Newport. "This is an issue which will be discussed at Coreper level and, if necessary, at ministerial level" before the Council gives its formal approval, Mr Straw explained. On Friday, Commissioner Olli Rehn told the press that due to its clear political dimension, this issue "deserved" a special meeting of the General Affairs Council "well before 3 October, in order to avoid any last-minute problems" (at this stage, the forthcoming General Affairs/External Relations Council is not scheduled to be held until 3 October, the very day when negotiations are set to open with Turkey). The framework for negotiations as proposed by the Commission is strictly based on the conclusions of the European Council of December 2004, and will therefore contain "no surprises or novelties" for Turkey, Mr Rehn told the press. The objective of the negotiations is none other than the accession of Turkey, but, as in any negotiations, this is an open process and its results cannot be decided in advance, he explained. This is a balanced compromise to which no further changes should be made, said the Commissioner, in reference to the wish expressed by certain of the capitals to bring a reference to a "privilege partnership" with Ankara into the text, as an alternative to accession. However, the Turkish Minister for foreign affairs repeated on Friday that Turkey would give up any ambition to join the EU if the Union imposed any further conditions on it, or attempted to propose any form of partnership other than full membership. It will be impossible to avoid discussions on the option of a "privileged partnership" in the course of the next few years, said Mr Rehn; but, he feels, Turkey should consider this discussion as an extra "incentive" to make progress with its reforms and its work in preparation for accession. The German Minister for foreign affairs, Joschka Fischer, welcomed the fact that nobody has called the proposed timetable for the opening of negotiations with Ankara into question. To postpone this date and thus to slam the door in the face of the Turks would have "fatal consequences" for peace and stability in the region, said MrFischer, who added that the CDU/CSU was playing a "dangerous game" by making its opposition to Turkish accession one of the stakes of the elections to the Bundestag on 18 September.