Brussels, 04/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - - Forty-two years on from the first mooting of the idea of Turkey joining the European Union (in the 1963 Association Agreement), negotiations for Turkey to join the EU were finally opened in the early hours of 3 to 4 October, shortly after midnight at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg and the Turkish foreign minister, Abdullah Gül. Several hours before, the Turkish government had informed the President of the Council of the EU, Jack Straw, that Ankara agreed with the negotiating framework the EU25 had agreed upon late on Monday after gruelling negotiations that had gone on for more than 30 hours (the ministers arrived in Luxembourg on Sunday evening). The main stumbling block had been Austria's initial refusal to budge over what the negotiations were to aim at, but at solution was reached by the Council early on Monday evening when Austria finally gave up its demands that the negotiating mandate had to include alternatives to full accession. In exchange it was granted slightly tougher wording about the EU having to have the necessary absorption capacity for Turkey to join. The idea of 'absorption capacity' is included in the Copenhagen Criteria that have to be met before Turkey can join the EU, stipulates the document. The other stumbling block was Turkey's alignment with the views expressed by the EU in international organisations, including on the accession of new EU Member States to these international organisations in the future (former Article 5 of the negotiating framework, now paragraph 7 of the new document). This was solved in the end through a statement by the British Presidency reassuring Turkey which had refused to initial the paragraph because of fears that it would lose its right to vote if Cyprus, for example, asked to join NATO. The British Presidency statement stresses that the paragraph in question does not alter the autonomy of the decision-making process of the international organisations themselves or of EU Member States. Turkey's acceptance of the document was also aided by a phone call from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday evening to Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan. Rice is reported to have told Turkey that paragraph 7 of the negotiating mandate could not force Turkey to give up its reservations about Cyprus applying to join NATO. Condoleezza Rice also spoke with Tassos Papadopoulos, the Greek Cypriot President, on the same issue.
At a press conference in Luxembourg on Monday evening, Jack Straw said 'This is a truly historic day for Europe and for the whole of the international community.' 'It has been a collective effort with twenty-five colleagues in the room with the Government of Turkey.' He played down the blocking tactics of Austria and other Member States, explaining that it has been a collective effort by all Member States, the Council, the British Presidency, the Commission and Turkey, with a demonstration of great statesmanship and recognition that the prize is such an important one. The EU had been able to rise above differences with dignity, and the historic and strategic importance of opening accession negotiation with Turkey won the day. 'Every enlargement that has taken place within the European Union has made both the existing and the new Member States stronger and more prosperous. I'm in absolutely no doubt that these benefits will follow from this enlargement and it will bring a strong secular state which happens to have a Muslim majority in to the European Union. Proof that we can live, work and prosper together and we are all much stronger for being united that for being divided.' Responding to comments that Turkey is not really a European country, Jack Straw (who is Jewish) said Turkey was a founder member of the Council of Europe and had been deemed European enough when Western Europe was desperate for protection and defence of its South-Eastern borders and had invited Turkey to join NATO.
Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gül also highlighted the historic nature of the day for Turkey and for the EU, which had become a 'global player'. At a press conference in Luxembourg he said Europe's strategic decision had made it a global player that would have a role to play on the world stage. Abdullah Gül added that Turkey's accession negotiations would help unite the Muslim and Christian civilisations. The world has opened its eyes on a new day, when East and West, Europe and Islam, will move in the direction of unity rather than confrontation. It is a great gift to the world, he added. The negotiations would also help boost Turkey's reform process and Gül said the country would pursue and deepen its reforms but Ankara would not recognise Cyprus until there was a permanent peace settlement. Addressing the Turkish parliament on Tuesday, prime minister Tayyip Erdogan said that good sense had won out over prejudice.
In the view of the Commissioner for Enlargement, Olli Rehn, the opening of negotiations was "the right decision to take, because Europe needs a stable, democratic and increasingly prosperous Turkey. Starting accession talks is the best vehicle to advance towards this objective". Mr Rehn emphasised that despite the long and tricky negotiations within the EU on the negotiation mandate, no new conditions had been imposed upon Turkey. The conditions, therefore, will be those that the previous candidate countries also had to fulfil. " Turkey can now prove that it is capable of fulfilling these criteria", said Mr Rehn. He welcomed the fact that the reference to the EU's absorption capacity had been tightened up. This will help us to ensure that the institutional, socio-economic and budgetary reforms within the EU will make progress over the next years, and that the enlargement and deepening of the EU will be " parallel processes, which will move forward hand-in-hand", he told a press conference on Tuesday. The Commission will play an important part in defining the absorption capacity of the Union, he said. He Commission has promised Turkey "rigorous but fair" negotiations. The High Representative of the EU for CFSP, Javier Solana, also said that with the opening of the negotiations, "there will be no losers; everybody will be a winner".
The President of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso, said that the opening of talks is "a turning point in relations between the EU and Turkey". "A stable, modern and democratic Turkey is an objective which we must actively support in Europe and in Turkey. This is why we are undertaking accession negotiations with this country. Of course the road which will lead Turkey to accession will be long and difficult. As for any other candidate country, accession is neither guaranteed nor automatic", said Mr Barroso in a declaration. Echoing the words of Commissioner Olli Rehn, Mr Barroso promised "fair and rigorous negotiations". "Turkey must be treated like all the other candidate countries. And it must strictly respect the principles of democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law if it wants to join the club", he said. "Europe must learn to get to know Turkey better. And Turkey must win the hearts and minds of the citizens of Europe. Because these are the people who will decide whether or not Turkey joins. We must give Turkey a fair chance to show that it is capable of fulfilling all the conditions to join the European Union. I hope that it will succeed in doing so. An open and dynamic Turkey in an open and dynamic Europe lies in the interests of a European Union which is capable of fully assuming its responsibilities in the world", added the President of the Commission.
The President of the European Parliament, Josep Borrell, said: "It is a good thing that the Twenty-Five have finally reached agreement on the opening of negotiations with Turkey. A very long period is now opening, at the end of which, whatever the result, neither the EU nor Turkey will be the same. The EP, which took position in favour of these negotiations on 28 September, expects Turkey to fulfil all of its obligations". Mr Borrell, who was on an official visit to Cyprus on Tuesday, thanked the Cypriot authorities for the role they have played in the decision taken in Luxembourg. He took the opportunity of the decision on Turkey to point out that "Cyprus is the last wall in Europe" and that this situation must cease. "Cyprus must be re-unified. Greek and Turkish Cypriots must live together in peace and mutual trust", said Mr Borrell.
The Greek Minister for foreign affairs, Petros Molyviatis, also welcomed this "historic moment", which will also allow us to start "a new era, an era of peace and stability" in relations between Greece and Turkey. Greece's strategic objective is to turn its neighbours into a zone of peace, security and stability, which can only be achieved via the European project. For this reason, Greece also supports the accession of the Balkan States, said the minister, quoted by the agency ANA.
Main elements in the negotiating framework for Turkey
The negotiating framework finally agreed on by the Twenty-Five and accepted by Turkey (of which the full text will be published in our series "Europe/Documents") stipulates, amongst other things, that: - "the shared objective of the negotiation is accession. These negotiations are an open-ended process, the outcome of which cannot be guaranteed in advance"; - the EU's capacity to absorb Turkey, whilst maintaining its pace of integration, is an "important consideration in the general interest of the Union and of Turkey". The absorption capacity is also one of the Copenhagen criteria; - if Turkey is not able to fulfil all its obligations to become a member, the EU must make sure that Turkey is "fully anchored in the European structures through the strongest possible bond"; - as the accession of Turkey will have substantial financial consequences, negotiations cannot be concluded until the implementation of the financial perspectives for the post-2014 period;
- in case of serious and persistent violation by Turkey of the EU's founding principles of freedom, democracy, respect of human rights, fundamental freedoms and rule of law, the Commission may recommend that membership talks be suspended. It will then be up to the Council to decide by qualified majority on how such a recommendation should be followed up; - before accession, Turkey should accept the rights and obligations attached to the EU system and to its institutional framework (acquis communautaire). The acquis mainly includes the content, the principles and the political objectives of the Treaties, legislation and decisions adopted, the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice and international agreements. As for earlier enlargements, the EU may accept Turkey's requests concerning transitional measures, on condition that they are restricted in time and in importance; - the EU calls for continuous efforts to be made by Turkey to reach a comprehensive settlement of the Cypriot issue within the UN and to make progress in normalising bilateral relations between Turkey and all the EU Member States, including the Republic of Cyprus; - the EU calls on Turkey to fulfil its obligations under the customs union agreement including its extension to the ten new Member States (this also implies the opening of ports and airspace to Cypriot ships and aircraft); - membership talks, that will take place in the context of an intergovernmental conference between all 25 Member States and Turkey (which implies de facto recognition of the Republic of Cyprus by Ankara), will be preceded by an acquis screening process in order to explain the whole of the European body of law to the Turkish authorities. Screening will also allow Turkey's state of preparedness for opening talks to be assessed in each specific field and to obtain information on the problems that may arise during the talks; - for the negotiation strictly speaking, acquis will be divided into 35 technical chapters, each covering a specific subject; - the opening and the closing of each of these chapters will require an unanimous Council decision (Ed.: this recently prompted Commissioner Olli Rehn to say that each Member State will therefore have at least 70 opportunities for imposing its veto to prevent talks being continued).