Brussels, 23/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - After its discussion on Turkey in Strasbourg next Wednesday, the European Parliament will vote its assent on the Additional Protocol to the EC/Turkey Association Agreement (Brok report), recently signed by Ankara, as well as a more general resolution on the EU/Turkey negotiations that will open on 3 October (see EUROPE 9032 and 9033). On Friday, before the press, the spokespersons for the EPP-ED, PES, ALDE and Greens/EFA Groups expressed the hope that Cyprus would soon be recognised by Ankara but their groups will present separate resolutions in Strasbourg. Helmut Weixler, spokesperson for the Greens, commented that Turkey is responsible for the current difficult situation, but the Greek Cypriots are also responsible as, unlike the Turkish Cypriots, they rejected the solution of a divided island proposed by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan during the referendum in the spring.
Elmar Brok, Joao Pinheiro and Camiel Eurlings (who will be the EP rapporteur on the subject of the European Commission's report on 9 November on the progress made by Turkey with a view to its EU membership) presented on behalf of the EPP-ED a proposal for a resolution mainly calling on the Council to amend its proposal for a negotiation framework with Turkey so that: - negotiations (mainly in the case of serious and persistent violation of the political criteria by Ankara) may possibly be suspended or recommended by the Commission at its own initiative or at the request of one third of the Member States, after consultation with the European Parliament; - the Council will decide its recommendation by qualified majority; - negotiations may resume only after a positive recommendation by the Commission after consultation of the EP and by unanimous Council decision. The proposal for a resolution, which does not evoke the possibility of a “privileged partnership” between the EU and Turkey which is so dear to the CDU/CSU and to the Austrian Chancellor, Wolfgang Schüssel, calls for assurance that Turkey's Declaration is not a part of the formal ratification process of the Protocol at either the European Parliament or the Turkish Parliament, and that if it is part of the formal ratification process, the vote on the Protocol by the European Parliament should be postponed.