Brussels, 12/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - The UK Presidency of the Council of the EU and France have agreed on a draft declaration on which the European Union is to call on Turkey to recognise the Republic of Cyprus as soon as possible after accession negotiations open on 3 October, and certainly before Turkey joins the Union. The UK Presidency, which is to continue its bilateral consultations on Monday, plans to put the draft text to the Ambassadors of the Member States, who are to meet in Coreper on Wednesday. Although the French appeared satisfied, it was not yet clear how the draft declaration would go down with the other Member States, particularly Cyprus, which has called on the EU to opt for strong wording on its recognition and on the complete implementation, by Ankara, of the additional protocol to the agreement on customs union. On Monday, the Cypriot ambassador to the EU declined to comment on the draft text.
Another agenda item for Wednesday's meeting of Coreper will be the negotiation frameworks, which has to be approved before 3 October. At this stage, the Presidency of the EU is going on the theory that this decision can be taken by Coreper without a ministerial debate, and that it will therefore not be necessary to convene an extraordinary session of the foreign ministers, as some countries, notably Cyprus, are calling for. "We hope that Coreper will be able to do this work. But if this is not the case, then we will have to do it in the forum of a Council", said a Presidency source.